Shifting Online Boundaries for Relationships

The 2019 State of Our Unions Report from the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, called iFidelity, found that today's young adults are more likely to cross online boundaries related to sex and romance and likely have lower quality relationships.

The study found that while younger people support and have a strong desire for relationships that are sexually exclusive and faithful, they are less likely to practice sexual fidelity in real life because of "i-infidelities" or unfaithful online behavior such as sexting a previous girlfriend/boyfriend or viewing pornography. Sadly, the boundaries for what people believe to be "infidelity, cheating or unfaithful behavior" are shifting, lowering the standard. However, Americans who report such behaviors online have "markedly less happy, less stable, and less committed relationships than those who do not."

We need to raise the bar on what is expected from relationships. Researchers found that those who keep strong boundaries on their online behavior are much happier in their relationships.