Why the Dismissive Avoidant is Most Likely to Cheat When a dismissive avoidant (DA) enters a long-term relationship like a marriage, their partner becomes a high stakes partner. That means emotional intimacy with them starts to feel overwhelming—which triggers the DA’s default mode: suppression. But here’s the twist… DAs do crave connection and vulnerability. They just don’t know how to do it safely with someone they feel responsible to. So they find what we call a low stakes partner—someone out