Biting the forbidden fruit: The effect of flirting with a virtual agent on attraction to real alternative and existing partners

•In a world of seemingly limitless alternatives, staying faithful to a current partner may be challenging.•We used a virtual reality paradigm to investigate one circumstance that facilitates resistance to alternative partners.•Three studies demonstrated that flirting with a virtual agent inoculated people against the lure of real alternatives.•Flirtatious virtual encounters led people to desire their partner more and devalue the alternatives’ attractiveness.•This research is the first to show that interacting with a virtual agent promotes real-world relationships.