Many people constantly evaluate past, present and even future relationships. Some may be a little bitter about expressing one’s love to their significant other, due to incidents that have affected them negatively. Cheating is definitely an action that can have consequences for both individuals.

Perhaps your last relationship ended because you caught your last boyfriend or girlfriend being unfaithful. According to Essence’s online magazine, women do more emotional cheating than men, but men are more likely to cheat physically.

A major concern that may arise in many relationships is infidelity during the relationship. Usually the finger is pointed at men because they are often suspected of cheating. However, women have also been known to cheat, but are in most cases the victims of infidelity. The finger could be pointed at men more often because, "men get caught when cheating, and women are sneaky about their cheating," said Dominic Jones, a sophomore visual arts major from Dallas, Texas.

Cheating is one of those issues that the blame cannot be placed on one particular gender. It is apparent that both genders cheat and there seems to be various reasons why both men and women say they are faithful.

"People cheat for two reasons," said Adrian Mouton, a sophomore accounting major from Houston, Texas. "They’re either unhappy or confused. They don’t know what they want or they’re unhappy with what they have."

The list of reasons is endless, but the reality is that there is no ultimate reason why people cheat. Everyone has their own reason for doing things.

"Men cheat for a reason; the reason may be because of you or a personal problem they have," said Lorin Rountree, a freshman business management and arts major from Plano, Texas. "They lie when it’s time to explain. Cheating is bad enough, he might as well explain why."

Honesty seems to be the best way to go when caught up in a twisted lie that has to do with being unfaithful. Both parties really do not gain from it and lose in the end.

Although there are more women on Dillard’s campus, there should be no bias and the males should be represented.

"Maybe they cheat because their sex life is unsteady or because it’s there. In a situation with friends, the girl’s friends are too involved in the relationship instead of worrying about their own," said Deon Williams, a sophomore public health major from Joliet, Ill.

Cheating can cause consequences in the future that could be unforeseen in the present according to Tyescha Link, a sophomore biology/ pre-med major from Baton Rouge, La.

"Cheating is definitely bad, it can cause problems in future relationships. It causes a person to become distrustful of the next person who may want a relationship with them. People cheat for a variety of reasons. They could be unhappy, it could be spur of the moment temptation, or they could be under the influence of alcohol or drugs," Link said.

The excuses women and men give for cheating all have the same undertone. The fact is that both genders cheat regardless to whether the excuse is good or bad.

It is hard to say what can be done to prevent it, other than be aware of signs your mate may be giving you to say that he or she is unhappy.

There is ultimately no reason for cheating, and excuses are simply cop outs that people use. Try to remember the positive experiences and resist dwelling on the unpleasant ones.

Cheating can leave lasting effects on a person’s emotional well-being and ruin relationships, but can be worked through with healthy communication.