Digital intimacy drives breakups for Gen Z and millennials.

Digital intimacy is redrawing the boundaries of trust, especially for younger adults, according to a nationally fielded MyIQ survey of 2,104 people. Emotional closeness, rather than physical cheating, now drives a growing number of relationship breakdowns among Gen Z and millennials. The survey found that 64% of singles aged 18-45 consider affectionate messaging or frequent emotionally intimate conversations with someone outside a committed relationship to be a form of cheating. Nearly half, 48%, said they had experienced this kind of behavior from a partner.

Generational differences are pronounced. Among 18-29-year-olds, 72% rejected a persistent emotional connection with someone outside the relationship, compared to 52% of those aged 36-45. Singles who are actively dating reported the highest levels of uncertainty: 71% said that norms around emotional boundaries are inconsistent or poorly defined across dating apps, social platforms, and messaging channels.

In 37% of cases, respondents said emotional involvement with a third party directly contributed to the end of a relationship. These findings are drawn from MyIQ’s bespoke relationship research and reflect a broader cultural uncertainty around what constitutes betrayal in the digital age. The phenomenon is intensified by platforms that facilitate private, ongoing, emotionally loaded conversations, often in spaces designed to encourage vulnerability, sustained attention, and frequent feedback.

Insights from MyIQ’s relationship research reinforce the complexity of modern emotional boundaries. Respondents with higher levels of attachment anxiety were more likely to view emotional infidelity as a serious breach, and more likely to report confusion or contradiction in how they define and manage their own emotional connections.

Two structural forces appear to be reshaping intimacy. First, technology has removed the friction from emotionally intimate exchanges: quick replies, late-night conversations, and personalized attention are now scalable, continuous, and often invisible to partners. Second, cultural norms have not caught up. Social scripts for emotional fidelity are fragmented and inconsistently enforced, especially among younger adults navigating casual dating ecosystems and non-traditional relationship models. Respondents who described themselves as highly extroverted or digitally immersed were significantly more likely to report having initiated or reciprocated emotionally intimate connections outside their primary relationships.

Beyond personal experience, the implications are systemic. Digital intimacy is creating an emotional grey zone, one that existing relationship structures, counselling paradigms, and app interfaces are not well-equipped to manage. 58% of respondents said they would welcome design features or clearer language on platforms to help establish emotional boundaries, such as status transparency tools or opt-in conversation disclosures.

MyIQ’s analysis frames emotional cheating not as a static category but as a signal, an intersection of emotional secrecy, unmet expectations, and gradual erosion of trust. As the private becomes ambient and the intimate becomes algorithmic, the cost of unclear boundaries is rising. Relationship norms that fail to reflect contemporary emotional behavior are producing measurable strain, especially for younger adults who are both more digitally fluent and more relationally fluid.

The report concludes with a recommendation: that couples, mental health professionals, educators, and platform designers engage with emotional fidelity as a core component of digital-era relationship health. In an environment where feelings can be exchanged at scale and secrecy is built into the interface, clarity and consent are not optional; they are structural necessities.

About MyIQ:
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories, cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.

Media Contact:
Sophie de Villiers
PR Manager
MyIQ
pr@myiq.com