--- title: Tinder: Almost Half of Users Aren't Even Single description: New research shows a significant percentage of users are married or in a relationship canonical: https://time.com/3851524/tinder-single-married-cheaters/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-08T11:25:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-15T01:49:37.000Z og:title: A Creepy Amount of Tinder Users Aren't Even Single og:description: Check out this new research before you swipe right og:url: https://time.com/3851524/tinder-single-married-cheaters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Creepy Amount of Tinder Users Aren't Even Single twitter:description: Check out this new research before you swipe right twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production video:duration: 03:13 video:published: 2014-08-20 section: health topics: sex therapy, Masters and Johnson, sexual intimacy, orgasm, masturbation, casual sex, technology and relationships, lack of desire, sexual health history genre: interview, documentary tones: reflective, candid, warm, thoughtful emotions: nostalgia (medium), concern (medium), warmth (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: adults interested in relationships, readers of health and wellness content, people curious about sexual health, couples people: Shirley Zussman, Masters and Johnson products: iPhone content_suitability: sexual content [00:00-03:13] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable --- # A Creepy Amount of Tinder Users Aren't Even Single > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4dff34c1-b2a4-45c9-beff-35ff5301f7dd&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now [Watch (HLS stream): A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8) (3:13)  _Published 2014-08-20. A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Sex therapist Shirley Zussman, who has recently turned 100, describes her career beginning with a 1966 lecture by Masters and Johnson and the training she sought afterward. She explains how patients' concerns, such as learning to reach orgasm, have changed over time. She then contrasts past casual sex with today's reduced physical connection, citing iPhones, and names lack of desire as the most common problem she sees now. ## Key points - Shirley Zussman says she has reached 100 years of age and is still a practicing sex therapist. (00:23) - Zussman and her husband attended a 1966 lecture in New Jersey given by Masters and Johnson, whose work was little known at the time. (00:32) - Zussman describes Masters and Johnson's work as showing that good sexual experience requires learning to be a good partner and enduring pleasure for each other. (01:05) - In the early days, women most often came to the clinic because they wanted to achieve orgasm but did not know how. (01:33) - Masters and Johnson offered a relatively simple approach: learn about your own body and what makes you feel good, including through masturbation. (01:51) - Zussman says casual sex in the 1960s was not just casual but frantic. (02:12) - Zussman says she is shocked at the lack of connection between people today, pointing to iPhones and reduced touching, talking, holding and looking. (02:21) - Zussman says the most common problem in her practice today is a lack of desire, and advises people to examine their priorities. (02:43) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:23] Intimacy beyond sexual pleasure. Zussman opens by saying partners want intimacy, closeness, understanding, comfort, fun and care beyond sex. - [00:23 to 01:05] Introduction and Masters and Johnson lecture. Zussman introduces herself and recounts attending a 1966 lecture by Masters and Johnson and the training that followed. - [01:05 to 01:51] Early patients and learning to be partners. Zussman describes the early clinic's patients, mostly women seeking orgasm, and the emphasis on partnership and self-knowledge. - [01:51 to 02:12] Learning about your body. Zussman explains the encouragement of self-exploration and masturbation to learn what feels good. - [02:12 to 02:43] Changes in casual sex and connection. Zussman compares casual sex in the 1960s with today and laments reduced physical connection. - [02:43 to 03:13] Lack of desire and priorities. Zussman identifies lack of desire as the most common problem and urges people to set priorities that fill a need for closeness. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Shirley Zussman: "They want intimacy, they want closeness, they want understanding, they want comfort, they want fun" - [01:05] Shirley Zussman: "One had to almost had to learn how to be a good partner and to endure the pleasure not only for yourself but for each other." - [02:21] Shirley Zussman: "I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone." - [02:43] Shirley Zussman: "the most common problem, I would say, in the sex therapy that I live in, is a lack of desire." - [03:03] Shirley Zussman: "to establish something that is gratifying that really fills a need that we all have to be close to somebody." ## Questions this video answers - What do people want from each other beyond sexual pleasure? [00:00] - How did Masters and Johnson's work first come to Shirley Zussman's attention? [00:23] - What did women most often seek help for when they first came to the clinic? [01:33] - How does Zussman describe casual sex in the 1960s compared with today? [02:12] - What is the most common problem Zussman sees in her sex therapy practice? [02:43] ## Content suitability - sexual content [00:00-03:13]: The video discusses sex, sexual pleasure, orgasm and masturbation in a clinical, non-explicit way. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:49 AM UTCPublished: May 8, 2015 11:25 AM UTC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:49 AM UTCPublished: May 8, 2015 11:25 AM UTC Next time you’re matched with someone on Tinder, don’t hold your breath that it could be your soulmate: [New research](http://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/what-to-know-about-tinder-in-5-charts) has revealed that 30% of Tinder users are already married and almost half aren’t even single. The data from GlobalWebIndex (GWI) shows that only 54% of people on the dating platform are “single,” while 3% are “widowed/divorced.” Another 12% are “in a relationship.” Tinder released a statement Friday disputing the GWI’s findings. “The results of this tiny, 681 person study in the UK is a totally inaccurate depiction of Tinder’s userbase—this firm is making guesses without having any access to real data on our millions of users worldwide,” the statement said. “Here are the facts: the single largest age group on Tinder, making up more than half of our entire userbase, is 18-24, and 93%+ of them have never been married according to the UK’s Office of National Statistics. Without revealing any data about our users, simple logic should reveal that it’s essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate. Their methodology seems severely and fundamentally flawed.” GWI points out, though, that its finding of a high number of married users could mean Tinder’s CEO Sean Rad was right when he called the service “not just a dating app but a ‘social discovery platform.'” Then again, maybe Tinder could be a gateway drug to the dating site for cheaters, [Ashley Madison](http://time.com/3120241/ashley-madison-cheaters-site-spies-on-its-users/). ### Photographing a Kiss: Long Time Love Affairs  Joseph and Dorothy Bolotin Sharon, Pennsylvania Married on June 16, 1938\. Dorothy, "I never think of it in terms of years. I think of it in terms of good years. In love, hot romance doesn’t last forever. So I would say that yes, I think love changes. I would say we’re still in love. It’s focusing, doing little things. He’s an amazing man." Lauren Fleishman  John and Sherma Campbell Star Valley, Wyoming Married on May 13, 1955\. Sherma, "When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but love grows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this stage of the game, I love him even more. I can’t even imagine life without him." Lauren Fleishman  Jin Lin and Lai Mei Chen Brooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961\. Jin Lin, "We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same." Lauren Fleishman  de'Spagnolis Aldo de’Spagnolis and Maria Filiozzi Itri, Italy Married on October 23, 1949\. Aldo, "When I first saw her, she was 14 and I was 22.Was there a concern that she was too young for me? No! Even now I look like a young child! Yes, even now I’m still young." Lauren Fleishman  Jake and Mary Jacobs Solihull, England Married on April 27, 1948\. Mary,"Jake said to me,'Would it ever be possible for me to marry you?' And I said,'Possible but not probable!' And that’s how it was. It wasn’t likely that I would ever marry him, and he knew that. So when he went home to Trinidad, my mother and father breathed a sigh of relief. But he used to write, and he said, 'I’m thinking I might come back to England.'" Lauren Fleishman  Kissin Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin Brooklyn, New York Married on June 29, 1941\. Yevgeniy, "We met at a dancing party. It was in January 1938\. My friend invited me to the party, he said there would be a lot of beautiful young girls. Another cadet with high boots had approached her, but she didn’t like high boots and so she said no to him. I was the second one to approach her. I had a different uniform, but I’m still not sure if it was my uniform or my face that attracted her to me." Lauren Fleishman  Itig and Golda Pollac Brooklyn, New York Married on August 13, 1946\. Golda, "I would say love came little by little. Not right away.We were young.And he was older, but I liked him. He spoke to me in a very nice way." Lauren Fleishman  Yaakov and Mariya Shapirshetyn Brooklyn, New York Married on July 6, 1949\. Yaakov, "What is the secret to love? A secret is a secret, and I don’t reveal my secrets." Lauren Fleishman  Gino and Angie Terranova Staten Island. New York Married on September 27, 1947\. Angie, "You really don’t think about getting older. First of all, you’re aging together, and when you see a person constantly,you don’t notice big changes. Like you don’t notice, oh you’re getting a little wrinkle here and tomorrow you say it’s a little deeper. No, those are things that just happen." Lauren Fleishman ## Transcript [00:00] Sexual pleasure is only one part of what men and [00:03] women want from each other. They want intimacy, they [00:07] want closeness, they want understanding, they want [00:10] comfort, they want fun, and they want somebody who [00:14] really cares about them beyond going to bed with [00:16] them, and I think people are always seeking that. In [00:20] every generation. [ MUSIC ] [00:23] My name is Shirley Zussman. I just reached a hundred [00:27] years of age, and I am a practicing [00:32] sex therapist. I was invited with my husband [00:36] to a lecture in New Jersey, in 1966. Masters [00:41] and Johnson were the speakers. No body knew about [00:43] them. Human sexual response had just been [00:46] published, what I saw was a couple [00:51] who will say that people had problems in an area [00:55] in their lives that was very important and they were [00:58] recognizing that it was all not just. Glamorous and [01:01] wonderful to be sexual. One had to almost had to [01:05] learn how to be a good partner and to endure the [01:08] pleasure not only for yourself but for each other. And I [01:11] thought we can do that. Why can't we do that? And we [01:15] applied for training with Masters and Johnson at that [01:17] time. The patients that came to us were people who [01:21] read the paper. The only way they do anything about [01:25] the work that was being done there. And the problems [01:28] they came with, was somewhat different than the [01:30] problems they come with today. Mostly, women came [01:33] because would put out orgasmic, they didn't know how [01:36] to achieve an orgasm, but they wanted one. It [01:40] was so over that ,. Goal they had for themselves and [01:43] how do I get there. That was one Masters and [01:47] Johnson's contribution that there was a relatively [01:51] simple way to start learning about your body. In [01:55] other words, get, get to know your, who you are [01:58] sexually and physically and that was. And [02:03] encouragement for masturbation for learning what [02:06] makes you feel good. I [02:12] see a big change in the we view casual sex. [02:17] In the 60's I think it was not just casual it was frantic. [02:21] I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; [02:25] because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone. There [02:30] is so much less actual physical connection, there's [02:34] less touching, there's less talking, there's less holding, [02:38] there's less looking, [ INAUDIBLE ]. People get pleasure [02:41] from looking at each other. But the most common [02:43] problem, I would say, in the sex therapy [02:49] that I live in, is a lack of desire. You have to look [02:53] at your priorities. You have to decide what is important [02:57] to make you feel good about yourself and your life. 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