Cheating is also a sign of having trust issues. Unfortunately, low self-esteem levels lead to ownership of infidelity, even if you werent the party who was unfaithful. In reality, cheating is often a direct indication of a perpetrators lack trust in him or herself. The mistrust can manifest in many ways.

How does cheating affect trust?

We find that both parties to a trust exchange have personal notions of cheating and that these notions have a bimodal distribution. We conceptualise cheating notions as moral expectations, which provide a micro-foundation for guilt. Cheating notions substantially affect decisions on both sides of the trust exchange.