What Are The Signs of Cheaters' Guilt? Check The Answer Here
Evelyn Skye
Updated Jul 12, 2024
Statistically, 1 in 5 Americans dabbles in infidelity at some point in their lives. Although the likelihood of being cheated on doesn’t make it any less painful, one should always know what to look out for.
A cheater always has a guilty conscience, and picking up on the signs is as good as catching them in the act! Here’s everything you need to know about the signs of cheater’s guilt and how to identify them.
Cheater’s guilt is the name often given to a wayward partner’s feelings after they have gone through an episode; motivated by regret for their actions, they often fail to find a purpose to move forward in their lives. This regret then leaves them spiraling out of control and in a loop, without any idea of what to do or how to numb this feeling with their actions.
What these people fail to realize is the fact that guilt is a very normal result of cheating because, ultimately, it is betraying someone’s trust and indulging in something that is almost illegal.
However, cheating comes in different forms, and different genders often regret different types more.
For example, women tend to regret emotional affairs a lot more than physical ones, whereas men, on the other hand, are the opposite. However, regardless of the type, cheating is altogether a regrettable action.
People have different ways of showing their guilt. For many, internalizing guilt is easier than admitting to what they did. But, no matter how hard one tries to hide their affairs, it's hard to wipe the conscience clean. That’s where the signs of cheaters’ guilt come in. Most cheaters begin to exhibit changes in behavior that are a telltale sign that they’ve been unfaithful.
Although you can never be truly sure of a person’s actions without proof, these signs are a good way to prepare for the worst. Once you pick up on the signs, you can start looking into why their behavior has changed. But men and women display guilt differently; here’s how:
When it comes to the signs of guilt in a man, here’s what you need to look for:
Secretive Use of Phone or Computer
One of the earliest symptoms of guilt after cheating in men is that they become very secretive with their phone and computer use like putting their phone screen facing down around you.
Avoidant Personality
Men tend to become avoidant after committing mistakes like cheating because they’re afraid of confrontation. You might notice he doesn’t want to spend as much time with you.
Random Bursts of Anger
Another sign is that you notice he’s been lashing out at you for the smallest mistakes. This is because he feels guilty and is projecting it onto you.
Changes in Sex Drive
Sometimes, after an episode of cheating, men exhibit changes in sex drives. This can either be him being more intimate with you or completely shutting you out.
Lack of Interest in Your Needs
Sometimes, people lack the courage to face those they have wronged, and this can come across as indifference towards them and ignoring their needs.
Research shows that women are more prone to show signs of cheaters guilt because they’re prone to regret their mistakes. Here’s what the signs of guilt in a woman look like:
Defensiveness
Right off the bat, you’d notice that she is more defensive than usual. Even if she does something that is otherwise okay, she will go out of her way to show how she can be trusted.
Excessive Justifications
Coupled with defensiveness is a lot of excessive justifications. You would notice her feeling like you’re accusing her of things even when you’re not.
Sudden Increase in Intimacy
Sometimes, a cheater’s guilt makes a person want to go out of their way to do nice things so they don’t feel terrible about themselves.
Increased Mood Swings
For women, the guilt of cheating weighs the heaviest on their mental state, leading them to suffer from increased mood swings.
Paranoid or Jumpy Behaviour
One of the most obvious signs of a cheater’s remorse is the feeling of anxiety and exhibiting jumpy behavior. Women often suffer from anxiety and guilt after cheating, and this manifests quite evidently within their behaviors, like hiding their phones, keeping their meetings with people a secret, etc.
Many people experience guilt after cheating, and it can manifest in different ways. One thing for sure is that the way they present that guilt changes depending on the stages of guilt they’re on. Here’s what each stage can look like:
Stage 1: Denial
At first, the cheater may deny that they did anything wrong. They do not want to face reality and be held accountable for their actions.
Stage 2: Anger
In the ‘Anger stage,’ The trait of a cheater is to get excessively violent and abusive towards those they love so as to steal attention from self-hate and other unpleasant feelings.
Stage 3: Bargaining
In this phase, the cheater desperately wants to be allowed back into the relationship. Any remorse they feel for their actions is quickly washed away by a sense of unfairness. They use their own judgment to explain how things happened and why they should be forgiven.
Stage 4: Depression
If the partner does not give in to the cheater’s bargaining, the cheater will fall into depression. The consequences of their actions will make them feel like a terrible person, and regret for losing their partner starts to kick in. The cheater will feel self-loathing and a lack of confidence for a bit.
Stage 5: Acceptance
Once the cheater fully realizes the extend of the damage done, they learn to accept their mistakes. In this period they might even start seeing their shortcomings and could learn from what happened.
It’s never easy recovering from having an affair. Once you stop looking at the situation from your perspective, you realize just how many people you’ve hurt. Getting over that guilt can be hard. However, as it is a step-by-step process, here’s what you can do to learn how to deal with the guilt of cheating.
One should be able to live guilt-free after cheating, as well as not letting that guilt define one's life. Such an emotional process as being sorry for your actions may be very difficult, but many specific ways and means will give you a hand. You can try journaling or something else to cope with the flow of feelings. Through this, they will have a chance to discharge the pent-up guilt and remorse.
Similarly, you can attend therapy and address traumas that may have influenced your decision-making. It is important to have someone to talk to and to acknowledge that there’s more to you than being a past cheater. Build your personality and work on yourself to ensure you never make this mistake again; it will do wonders to soothe your conscience.
Sometimes, people who regret cheating may do it again, even if they were sorry the first time around. This is because guilt and remorse are entirely different feelings with different outcomes. Someone who is guilty is guided by the agony of having done something wrong. They want to make amends and learn how to deal with cheating guilt.
However, a remorseful person acts differently. They acknowledge that they hurt someone and look to work for their forgiveness. Remorse is often felt by both parties and is a shared feeling. A remorseful partner focuses on you and does their best not to hurt you again. You can tell their intentions by the way they say things. Here are some examples of what remorseful speech might look like:
“I’m sorry I’ve ruined our relationship.”
“I’ll do everything to win you back.”
“I understand it was my mistake, and I’m trying my best to be a better person.”
When it comes to your partner never cheating again, you can’t ever be too sure! The best way to find out is to monitor their phone and keep an eye on them. There may be many spying and phone-tapping apps out there, but Spylix is ahead of the game.
If you’re interested in what Spylix can do to help you catch a cheater, the list is vast. Here’s what Spylix can do:
So, whatever you need to ensure your peace of mind, Spylix can do it!
If you’re interested in making sure someone won’t cheat on you again, just download Spylix from their device and monitor them from afar. Here’s how to do it for their OS type.
Spylix for Android
Step 1: Get Spylix for your computer and use your email to sign up and create an account.
Step 2: Follow through the steps to set up your account and customization. Now click on "Continue" on your device to move forward.
Step 3: Now install the Spylix app on the target phone and bind it to the created account. Use the control panel to spy on the target phone.
Spylix for iPhone
Step 1: First, make your way to the Spylix website and register.
Step 2: To bind your target device, enter its iCloud details on the pop-up page.
Step 3: Access the dashboard, make use of its different features, and customize your spying.
You might be wondering, ‘Why choose Spylix when there are so many monitoring apps?’. Well, it’s simple: Spylix is the best app that gives you great features at a price that competitors can’t live up to. Here’s what sets us apart:
With so much utility, what more do you need?
Cheaters’ guilt can be a confusing feeling to deal with, but you’re not alone. Here are some frequently asked questions that might help you.
With time and proper acceptance, the guilt of cheating does go away. How long it takes depends from person to person, but it is definitely something that you can overcome.
For many people cheater’s guilt lasts from a few days after the incident to right before the next one. Those who feel the cheater’s guilt for longer may have been serial cheaters or caused a lot of pain. There are some people who do not feel this guilt at all.
In many cases, being excessively defensive is a sign of a cheater’s guilt. This is especially true if your partner has never been a defensive person before. However, you need to keep in mind that some people have an anxious or paranoid personality that makes them defensive by default.
A cheating person tends to avoid eye contact and is almost always jumpy. They’re tense and rigid in their posture and can even be visibly distraught. Looking out for these body signs can help you identify a cheater long before getting proof.
Identifying the signs of cheaters’ guilt may be easy once you know what you’re looking for, but they’re never a confirmation. They can only help you catch on to something wrong, but you need proof to corner a cheater.
Whether you’re looking to catch a partner in the act or make sure they’re staying true to their apology, Spylix is the perfect app for you. It lets you monitor another device without being detected and gives you unlimited access to their texts, calls, and storage. Keep yourself safe and stay a step ahead with Spylix!
There is so much you can do with Spylix that there’s simply no way to fit them all into one short list. Here are some of the prominent features that our customers love the most!
