Why do people cheat?

Here's how infidelity has stirred drama from myths to kiss cams.

Transcript

00:00Oh, look at these two. Alright, come on. You're okay? Uh-oh, what?

00:04Call it infidelity, call it adultery. This moral, ethical violation is as old as love and as complicated.

00:12Across centuries in civilizations, infidelity has been painted as sin, crime, and tragedy.

00:17In ancient Mesopotamia, a woman caught in adultery was drowned.

00:21In Babylon, the Code of Hammurabi carved punishment into stone.

00:24In Greece and Rome, women bore the brunt of shame, humiliated, exiled, or worse,

00:30while men's affairs were often ignored.

00:33Religions also took their stand.

00:35In Hinduism, marriage is more than a contract.

00:37It's a sacred bond that's supposed to last seven lives.

00:40Loyalty is not just a virtue. It's the very pillar of family and society.

00:45In Judaism and Christianity, adultery was one of the gravest sins possible, punishable by death.

00:51The Bible does not flinch. Both shall surely die.

00:53Islam called it zina, a violation of divine law, condemned in the Quran with fierce punishments,

00:58from public flogging to stoning.

01:01Buddhism urged followers to abstain from it completely, calling it a cause of suffering for all involved.

01:06Even the English church in the Middle Ages prosecuted it alongside sodomy,

01:10casting it as a moral threat to the entire community.

01:13The world changed, but the wound stayed.

01:15Psychologists have studied how betrayal cuts.

01:18Sexual infidelity often ignites rage, a fury that feels preventable and intolerable at the same time.

01:23Emotional infidelity, on the other hand, stirs jealousy, anxiety and grief, a quieter ache that feels harder to control.

01:30When researchers asked men and women what hurt more, a partner's body or heart wandering,

01:35most men said the body, most women said the heart.

01:38Maybe that's biology, maybe that's culture, maybe it's a bit of both.

01:42Even today, when the punishments have softened, the shame, the hurt and the fallout of infidelity remains devastating.

01:47For some, it's humiliation. For others, heartbreak.

01:51For everyone, it's a test of what love really means.

01:54Through it all, one thing has stayed the same.

01:56The expectation that love comes with loyalty and the fear of what happens when it doesn't.

02:01Because while adultery may feel private, history has shown us it's never just about two people.

02:05It echoes through families, communities and cultures, carrying with it the heavy weight of judgement, pain and sometimes forgiveness.

02:12For more no-fluff explainers like this, subscribe to more and share this video with your friends.

02:16I'm Arisha Vikari. Thank you for watching The Culture Project.