Two phones and a research chart illustrating dating apps and infidelity research

Few topics generate as many confident-sounding statistics as dating apps and cheating. "42% of Tinder users are married." "Apps have made infidelity an epidemic." Most of these claims trace back to a single survey, a press release, or nothing at all.

This article does something different. We went back to the original sources — peer-reviewed studies, nationally representative surveys, and government data — and summarized what they actually found, how they measured it, and where their limits are. Every number below links to its source.

One caveat up front: research on dating apps and infidelity is young, mostly based on self-reports, and often uses student or online-panel samples. Treat the figures as the best available evidence, not as precise truths about everyone.

Key findings

Roughly 1 in 5 Tinder users in study samples were in a committed relationship. In a sample of 1,486 Tinder users, 22.4% were not single; earlier studies reviewed by the same authors put the figure at 18–25% (Timmermans, De Caluwé & Alexopoulos, 2018).
11% of married Americans under 40 say they currently use dating apps or sites — 18% of married men and 6% of married women. Their most common stated reason is "looking for friends" (38%) (Institute for Family Studies/YouGov, 2025).
About 17% of college students surveyed had messaged someone on Tinder while in a committed relationship, and over 7% had a sexual relationship with someone they met there (Weiser et al., 2018, as summarized in Psychology Today).
Whether a dating profile counts as cheating depends heavily on who you ask: 67% of British women but only 43% of British men said signing up to dating sites or apps is cheating (YouGov, 2014).
Overall infidelity rates have not exploded with apps. In U.S. General Social Survey data, the share of married people who report ever having sex outside the marriage has stayed around 16% (Wolfinger, IFS, 2017) — apps seem to change how people cheat more than how many do.
Infidelity is one of the most commonly cited reasons for divorce. In one U.S. study of divorced individuals, 59.6% named infidelity as a major contributor (Scott et al., 2013).

How many people use dating apps while in a relationship?

There is no official figure — dating apps do not publish the relationship status of their users. What we have are surveys, and they measure slightly different things.

Among dating app users

Academic studies of Tinder users consistently find a minority who are already in a relationship:

In a study of 1,486 Tinder users, 22.4% were in a committed relationship. The authors note that several earlier studies found between 18% and 25% (Timmermans, De Caluwé & Alexopoulos, 2018).
A U.S. study of 395 people currently using a dating app (university students and online panel workers) found that about 40% were in a serious relationship — dating seriously, living together, engaged or married. The authors themselves note this is far higher than other studies (Alexopoulos, Timmermans & McNallie, 2020).

These are convenience samples — people recruited through social media, universities or paid online panels — so they describe the people studied, not every user.

Among people who are married

Looking at the question from the other side — how many partnered people use apps — gives a smaller number:

In a 2025 survey of 2,000 Americans aged 18–39, 11% of married young adults said they currently use dating apps or websites: 18% of married men and 6% of married women. Notably, the most common reason married users gave was looking for friends (38%) — not dates (Institute for Family Studies/YouGov, 2025).

For context, about 14% of all U.S. adults have ever used Tinder, rising to 42% of 18–29-year-olds, according to a probability-based Pew survey (Pew Research Center, 2023).

The "42% of Tinder users aren't single" statistic

You will see this number everywhere, including in some academic papers. It comes from a 2015 market-research report by GlobalWebIndex, which said 30% of Tinder users were married and 12% were in a relationship (Global Dating Insights, 2015).

Tinder disputed it at the time, calling the methodology "severely and fundamentally flawed" and pointing out that more than half of its users were 18–24 — an age group in which the vast majority of people in the U.K. have never been married (The Drum, 2015). No detailed methodology was published. It is best treated as an unreliable, widely repeated figure — not evidence.

Do dating apps make people cheat?

This is the question everyone wants answered, and the honest answer is: the evidence shows apps are used for infidelity, but not that they cause more of it overall.

What people report doing on apps

In a survey of U.S. college students who had used Tinder, about 17% had messaged someone on Tinder while in a committed relationship, and over 7% reported a sexual relationship with someone they met on Tinder while in one (Weiser et al., 2018, Personality and Individual Differences, as summarized in Psychology Today).
Among partnered Tinder users in the Timmermans study, 57.7% had met up offline with someone from the app (Timmermans et al., 2018). Meeting someone is not necessarily cheating — but it shows that use is not always "just browsing."
In a 2019 YouGov poll, 7% of Americans who had ever used dating apps or sites said they had used them to cheat on a partner (YouGov, 2019).

Feeling desirable matters more than the number of options

Two studies looked at why app use might lead toward infidelity:

Among U.S. app users, feeling successful on a dating app was linked to a stronger intention to cheat — through feeling more desirable. Simply seeing many potential partners was not enough on its own (Alexopoulos, Timmermans & McNallie, 2020).
A 2024 study of 338 adults in exclusive relationships found no direct link between perceived online-dating success and online infidelity behaviors; instead, success was tied to feeling that more alternative partners were available, which in turn predicted those behaviors (Nascimento, Adair & Vione, 2024).

Both studies measured intentions or online behaviors at one point in time, not physical affairs over months — so they suggest mechanisms rather than prove cause and effect.

The big picture: rates have stayed fairly flat

If apps were creating an infidelity epidemic, long-running population surveys should show it. They don't, so far. In the U.S. General Social Survey, the share of married people who report ever having sex with someone other than their spouse has held at roughly 16% since the early 1990s, with adults over 55 reporting more and younger adults less since 2000 (Wolfinger, IFS, 2017).

A widely cited review estimates that 2–4% of spouses engage in sexual infidelity in any given year and that infidelity occurs in 20–25% of marriages at some point (Fincham & May, 2017).

The most reasonable reading: dating apps have changed where and how infidelity starts — more of it begins with a swipe or a message — without clearly increasing how many people cheat.

Who uses dating apps while partnered — and why?

Personality and motives

The Timmermans study compared partnered Tinder users with partnered people who don't use the app. Partnered users scored, on average, lower on agreeableness and conscientiousness and higher on neuroticism and psychopathy. Among partnered users, narcissism and Machiavellianism were linked to using Tinder for an ego boost (Timmermans et al., 2018).

Two cautions: these are group averages, not labels for individuals, and the personality comparison was based on a small subgroup (81 partnered users). It does not mean people on Tinder in relationships are "psychopaths."

Known risk factors for infidelity

Research reviews point to a consistent set of factors associated with infidelity in general — not specific to apps: more permissive attitudes toward casual sex, insecure attachment, neuroticism, narcissism, a history of previous infidelity, and opportunity (for example, work travel) (Fincham & May, 2017). Dating apps are, in effect, a powerful new form of opportunity.

For a closer look at the motivations people describe, see our article on why cheaters use dating apps.

Is having a dating profile cheating? It depends who you ask

One reason statistics on "cheating" disagree is that people define it differently — and dating apps sit right in the grey zone.

The gender gap is large in polls. In a 2014 YouGov survey of British adults, 67% of women but only 43% of men said signing up to dating websites or apps counts as cheating. YouGov noted that using Tinder caused more disagreement than any other scenario it asked about (YouGov, 2014).
Most people agree on the extremes. In a 2022 YouGov survey of U.S. adults, about 9 in 10 said having sex with someone else or sending nude photos is cheating, 83% said the same about sending suggestive online messages, and 73% about forming an intense emotional attachment. Across every behavior asked about, women were more likely than men to call it cheating (YouGov, 2022).
Researchers see the same pattern. A study developing a questionnaire on infidelity judgments grouped behaviors into sexual, technology/online, emotional and solitary categories. People judged sexual behaviors as infidelity most strongly, and men gave more permissive judgments than women (Thompson & O'Sullivan, 2016).

Digital suspicion is common, too. In a Pew survey of 4,860 U.S. adults, 34% of partnered adults said they had looked through their partner's phone without their knowledge — 42% of women and 25% of men — and 23% of those whose partner uses social media said they had felt jealous or unsure because of how their partner interacts there (Pew Research Center, 2020).

How common is infidelity overall?

The answer depends on how you ask and what counts:

Narrow definition (sex outside marriage): In recent General Social Survey data analyzed by the Institute for Family Studies, 20% of men and 13% of women who have been married reported having sex with someone other than their spouse while married (Wang, IFS, 2018).
Broad definition (including emotional cheating): In a 2022 YouGov poll, 33% of Americans who had ever been in a monogamous relationship said they had cheated, and 54% said they had been cheated on. Among married respondents, 13% said they had cheated on their current spouse (YouGov, 2022).
Question wording changes the answer. When researchers asked about infidelity indirectly rather than directly, substantially more participants reported it (Tang, Hans & Vowels, 2023) — a reminder that self-reported figures are likely underestimates.

These numbers are not contradictory; they measure different things. For a deeper breakdown by gender and age, see how many people cheat in relationships.

What happens after infidelity is discovered?

Infidelity and divorce

In a U.S. national panel of divorced people, infidelity was the most commonly reported cause of divorce, followed by incompatibility, drinking or drug use, and growing apart (Amato & Previti, 2003).
In a smaller study of 52 divorced individuals, 59.6% named infidelity or extramarital affairs as a major contributor to their divorce. Lack of commitment (75.0%) and too much conflict (57.7%) were also common (Scott et al., 2013).
In General Social Survey data from more than 16,000 respondents, a history of extramarital sex was associated with higher odds of being divorced or separated (Allen & Atkins, 2012).

Association is not destiny. A large German panel study found that relationship satisfaction typically declined before infidelity rather than only after it, and showed little rebound afterward (Stavrova, Pronk & Denissen, 2023). In other words, infidelity is often a symptom of a relationship already in trouble as well as a cause of further damage.

For context, the U.S. divorce rate was 2.3 per 1,000 people in 2024 (provisional; excludes five states), down from 4.0 in 2000 (CDC/NCHS).

The emotional cost

In a U.S. probability sample of married or cohabiting adults in less satisfied relationships, people who had discovered a partner's affair in the past year had markedly higher odds of a major depressive episode, even after accounting for demographics and relationship quality (Whisman, 2016).
An earlier study found that women who had recently experienced a humiliating marital event — such as a partner's infidelity or a threat of divorce — were about six times more likely to be diagnosed with major depression than matched women with similar marital discord (Cano & O'Leary, 2000).

Can couples recover?

Many do. In a randomized trial of couple therapy, couples dealing with an affair were more likely to divorce over five years than couples without one (43% of couples whose affair had been revealed, versus 23%), but couples who stayed together reached similar relationship satisfaction to non-affair couples (Marín, Christensen & Atkins, 2014). The subgroups were small, but the message is consistent: recovery is possible, especially with help. Our guide on how to deal with cheating covers practical next steps.

Why suspicion itself is so hard to live with

Many people reading this aren't dealing with a confirmed affair — they're dealing with a feeling that something is off. That state has its own cost.

A lab study at University College London found that stress tracked uncertainty more than the bad outcome itself: participants were most stressed when they genuinely did not know whether something unpleasant would happen (de Berker et al., 2016). That study was about electric shocks, not relationships — but it helps explain why prolonged suspicion can feel worse than a clear answer. We explore this in why not knowing hurts the most.

If suspicion keeps coming back, the research points to a few sensible steps: talk honestly if it's safe to do so, consider couples or individual therapy, and if you need clarity about Tinder specifically, a private check is one option. Our guide on how to check if your partner is on Tinder compares the methods, and DoTheySwipe offers a reviewed lookup by name, age and location — a strong indication, not proof.

What the research can't tell us

Most studies are snapshots. They show associations at one point in time, not cause and effect.
Most samples are not representative. Students, online panels and volunteers recruited via social media are over-represented, especially in Tinder-specific research.
Everything is self-reported. People underreport infidelity, and definitions vary from study to study.
Much of the app-specific data is from 2015–2020. App usage and norms have shifted since.
Different studies measure different things. "Share of app users who are partnered" is not the same as "share of partnered people who use apps," and neither is the same as "share who cheat."

How we chose these sources

We prioritized peer-reviewed studies, probability-based surveys (Pew, the General Social Survey) and official statistics (CDC/NCHS), and checked figures against the original source wherever it was accessible. Where only a summary of a study was available to us, we say so in the text. We excluded statistics whose original source or methodology could not be found.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Tinder users are in a relationship? Studies of Tinder users generally find between about 18% and 25% are in a committed relationship; one study of 1,486 users found 22.4%. The often-quoted "42%" comes from a 2015 market-research report that Tinder disputed and whose methodology was never published.

Do dating apps increase cheating? The evidence doesn't show that clearly. Apps are used for infidelity, but long-running U.S. survey data show the share of married people who report ever having an affair has stayed roughly stable. Apps appear to change how infidelity starts more than how often it happens.

Is having a dating app while in a relationship considered cheating? It depends on the couple — and on who you ask. In a 2014 YouGov poll, 67% of British women and 43% of British men said signing up to dating sites or apps counts as cheating. Agreeing on boundaries explicitly avoids most of the ambiguity.

What is the most common reason for divorce? Infidelity is consistently among the most frequently cited reasons. In one national U.S. study it was the most commonly reported cause, and in another, 59.6% of divorced individuals named it as a major contributor, alongside lack of commitment and conflict.

Can a relationship recover after infidelity? Yes, many do. In one couple-therapy trial, couples who stayed together after an affair reported similar relationship satisfaction to couples who had not experienced one, although affair couples were more likely to divorce overall.

Sources

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Alexopoulos, C., Timmermans, E., & McNallie, J. (2020). Swiping more, committing less: Unraveling the links among dating app use, dating app success, and intention to commit infidelity. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 172–180. doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.009
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Dating Apps and Infidelity: What the Research Actually Says (2026)