PH
Past relationship patterns aren't limited to actual cheating.
The same longitudinal study examined suspicion of infidelity across consecutive relationships.
People who suspected a first partner of cheating were substantially more likely to report suspecting their next partner as well.
That doesn't mean their suspicions were necessarily imagined.
It shows that experiences involving trust and suspected betrayal can show continuity across relationships.
A woman leaving an untrustworthy boyfriend may therefore enter her next relationship with expectations shaped by what happened before.
Changing partners doesn't automatically erase the psychological history surrounding trust.
Sometimes the old relationship ends before the old suspicion does.
© Archives of Sexual Behavior (2018)