I've been looking into "Emotional Affairs"...apparently I'm having one now with an ex...he's my soul mate...and yes, we've crossed that line...whatever that line is that they keep talking about...

Anyways...what you're describing seems to fit under "Emotional Affair" and I read that it's just bad as having a physical sexual affair...

IMO...I think it could go either way depending on the couple involved...

My suggestion is to go to your local library and check out the book "Not Just Friends". It discusses the different kinds of affairs and how an emotional affair can become a physical affair.

My X had an emotional affair turn physical quickly. One thing that always hurt me the most was the fact he fell in love with the other woman. Personally, I always felt that if it was only physical I could have handled that easier.

Phoenix, I agree. The physical would be/is easier to forgive. It's when it becomes emotional and y ou are getting left out on all levels that it is unforgivable.

Every couple must clearly define infidelity for themselves. What one might consider an emotional affair, another might call simply a good friendship. Some feel outside flirting is fine and others are angered or feel insecure by it. There is no one-size-fits-all definition.

Infidelity is an unfaithful act. Turning away or stepping outside your marriage fits in with infidelity. Sexual or emotional. The internet has put a new spin on infidelity. One can have an internet affair without getting physical. If you are doing something (physical or not) that you wouldn't do in front of your spouse, it may be considered unfaithful.

Is it up to the party who is likely to be hurt to judge whether the relationship has 'crossed that line'?

And how about this -- if the person providing the validation outside of the marriage is of the same gender and 'a friend', is that still infidelity on the part of the person, as Scarletlocks so accurately termed, who is 'turning away from the marriage'?

Everybody seems to be putting infidelity into a sexual connotation. But in reality, infidelity is simply unfaithfulness. A co-worker was abandoned financially. That is infidelity as much as having a physical sexual affair IMO.