-
The Influence Of Socio-cultural Variables And Marital Stability Among Couples
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 1 of 4
-
-
-
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Culture is
generally described and accepted as people’s way of life, which among
other things includes their marital lives. The inspiration of every
matured man or woman is to have a stable and happy marital life, be
compatible in love, values, academic, economic and of course be socially
alright. This in line with the postulation of Onyema (1994), that
marriage is a social institution for the union of body and soul.
However,
stability in marriage may at times be influenced by certain
socio-cultural variables. The influence of the variables may be negative
resulting to insecurity and unhappiness in marriage or may be positive
resulting to a stable and happy union. These variables range from
cultural diversity (in case of interethnic marriage), to educational,
social, economic and even religious background.
Even age difference
is inclusive in these variables. For instance, a lady once confessed
that she can never marry an illiterate no matter how rich he may be,
because, one day, he might ignorantly use his certificate as a toilet
tissue. The implication of this open confession is incompatibility and
social inequality in education which are factors that may influence
marital stability. The current instability in some marriages in our
society today tend to be the resultant influence of social, economic and
cultural changes in people’s pattern of living. These changes,
according to Amaonye, (1996), have occurred and has continued to occur
so rapidly that they are not yet absorbed into our ways of living.
Furthermore,
compatibility in social lives of couples a strong factor for marital
stability and survival. When the social lives of couples are at
variance, it may likely portend great threat to marital stability,
because it takes time to come to terms with why some social outings and
involvement are necessary. However, the realization of the salient
influence of these socio cultural variables on marriage may likely be
positive moment towards marriage stability in our society today.
1.2Statement of the Problem
The
wish of every couple is to spend their life time together and, joyfully
till death part them. However, this is not usually the case all the
time because at a particular period in their lives, frictions do arise
which lead to a near or total collapse of the marriage. And this is one
of the inevitable challenges that accompany marriages.
Socio-cultural
factors such as religions, age, socio-economic status, social class,
educational background, personality, traditional values etc influence
the marital stability of marriage among couples. And the factors are
very important variables in marital stability which are seldom
recognized by many couples, no wonder there are breakages in many homes
as a result of no love, lack of understanding, lack of compatibility,
disparity in age, in education, religion and social classes.
Many,
for instance, have failed to realize that when couples are of diverse
culture (inter-ethnic marriage), there is need to respect each other’s
culture since this translates to respecting the person you married and
subsequent marital stability. These days marriages fail due to lack of
tolerance, lack of mutual trust, lack of patience, non-child bearing, no
effective communication, lack of good marital altitudes, similarities
between couples, lack of maturity and poor socio-economic status.
Finally,
when couples are not from same socio-cultural background, and do not
have the same value system and norms, they tend to vary in understanding
of themselves and lack of understanding no doubt, creates conflict, and
instability in marital union.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 1 of 4
-
-
ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The study examined the influence of socio-cultural variables and marital stability among couples in Lagos Metropolis in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos StateThe descriptive research survey was applied in the assessment of the respondents’ opinions in this study. The stratified sampling technique was employed in selecting the samples for this study. A total of 160 (one hundred and sixty) respondents were selected for this study to represent the entire population of the study. For nul ... Continue reading---
