INFLUENCE OF SOCIO-CULTURAL VARIABLES ON MARITAL STABILITY AMONG COUPLES
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Culture is commonly defined and accepted as people’s way of life, which includes, among other things, their material lives. Every matured man or woman aspires to have a stable and happy marital life, to be compatible in love, values, academics, economics, and, of course, to be socially acceptable. This is consistent with Onyema’s (1994) contention that marriage is a social institution for the union of body and soul.
However, marriage stability can be influenced by socio-cultural factors at times. The variables’ influence may be negative, resulting in insecurity and unhappiness in marriage, or positive, resulting in a stable and happy union. These factors include cultural diversity (in the case of interethnic marriage), educational, social, economic, and religious background. Age difference is also included in these variables.
For example, a lady once confessed that she will never marry an illiterate, no matter how wealthy he is, because one day he will inadvertently use his certificate as a toilet tissue. The implication of this open confession is incompatibility and educational inequity, both of which can have an impact on marital stability.
The current instability in some marriages in our society is a result of social, economic, and cultural changes in people’s patterns of living. According to Amaonye (1996), these changes have occurred and continue to occur at such a rapid pace that they have not yet been absorbed into our ways of life. Furthermore, compatibility in couples’ social lives is a significant factor in marital stability and survival.
When couples’ social lives diverge, it may signal a serious threat to marital stability, because it takes time to understand why some social outings and involvement are necessary. However, recognizing the significant influence of these sociocultural variables on marriage may be a positive moment in our society today in terms of marriage stability.
Marriage Theories, Section 1.2 According to Osarenren (2005), marriage is one of the roles that every society expects of its members during adulthood. The implication of this postulation is that marriage is not only regarded as a normal pattern of social behavior by society, but it is also a legal requirement. As a result, marriage is an essential means of human reproduction as well as an avenue for children’s upbringing in order to create a better and more disciplined society.
According to Almond (2000), it is believed that marriage provides the assurance of security, love, and companionship. Adman (1998) supported this viewpoint by claiming that nature did not create humans to be alone. He went on to say that those who have never experienced the deep intimacy and intense companionship of happy mutual love have missed out on the best that life has to offer.
Marriage is a social phenomenon that affects both immediate family members (couples) and other members of the community. A man and a woman are drawn to each other in marriage because they both hope that the relationship will meet a variety of their needs, such as love, values, financial support, social protection, and long-term companionship. Marriage, however, is not without its difficulties and challenges.
Indeed, there appear to be numerous gaps between an individual’s relational ideal and eventual relational reality. As much research suggests, problematic communication patterns can contribute to relational breakdown (Hottman, 2004).
Much popular literature suggests that men and women are not the same, and that these differences manifest themselves in the sexes’ different communication and relationship needs. Some scholarly research, however, suggests that men and women have similar communication and relationship needs (Gray, 1997), and that while some differences exist, so do some similarities.
When it comes to couple communication in a close marital relationship, a variety of factors are relevant and interesting. To begin, what gender differences (if any) can be seen in couple communication patterns?
Second, how do couple-type identification and gender-role adherence influence how people communicate with their spouses?
Finally, how do gender-role adherence and coupe-type identification affect (dis)satisfactory couple communication?
It should be noted that the majority of relevant research has been conducted in Western cultures, with the majority of it taking place in the United States. According to Kathleen (1998), love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage began a popular 1950s song. Love and freedom of choice, according to Kathleen, are important in Western society.
Individuals generally choose their own marriage partners because they fall in love with them. When those considerations are not regarded as important by a particular group or society, which may emphasize economic or political requirements instead, there are other ways of contracting marriage. Marriage is not simply a contract between two people in any society.
It is a component of a society’s arrangement to sustain and organize itself. It is concerned with the protection, organization, and replacement of its individual members, as well as the socio-political alliances formed between families and society. Individuals will be more or less involved in decisions about who and when they will marry, depending on the society and the emphasis it places on personal freedom.
Allen (2000) claims that in Western society, before marrying, a couple in love, the individuals themselves play a significant role in choosing their partner. Although we believe that individuals have a great deal of freedom in choosing who they will marry, in practice, this freedom is often limited by some variables such as age, religion, social class, educational or occupational status, and, most importantly, cultural background of individuals who wish to enter into a marriage union.
Marriage is regarded as far too important in many other societies to be left to the individuals involved and made solely on the basis of romantic considerations. When marriage is part of a family or group alliance, the elders of the family play a significant role in arranging the marriage.
This method also shields young and inexperienced people from the weight of such a large decision. Essentially, wedding and marriage laws and customs reflect the dominant values of the society that establishes them. Some elements are more important to different societies and individuals than others.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to marriage (Admson, 1997).
1.2.1 Marital Stability Theories The ideals of material life cannot be realized without marital stability. Anyanwu’s (2000) theory on marital stability focused on the conflict between the couple’s desire for city jobs and their traditional roles, as well as the resulting insecurity in marriage.
Adults, according to the theory, leave the security of their traditional homes to seek employment in cities and towns. In addition to the hoped-for economic satisfaction, many couples are frequently confronted with a variety of issues that may jeopardize the stability of their marriage. As a result, there is a chance that they will be exposed to foreign patterns of living that are completely different and in conflict with their own culture.
According to Amanoye (1996), the current instability in some marriages is the result of educational, social, and economic changes that have occurred and continue to occur at such a rapid pace that they have not yet been fully absorbed into our way of life.
In essence, marriage instability is caused by the continued migration of people from rural to urban areas, the entry of women into industry, the labor force, and business, as well as the changing economic roles of husbands. If the foundation is poor, it can sometimes cause problems in later marital life.
For example, nowadays’s children and youths are frequently separated from their parents and relatives, who can guide them through the process of adjusting to future marital life.
According to Achuzie (1999), more than ever before, youths are crying out for the services of guidance and counsellors to help them with their daily problems, particularly the struggle to maintain a stable marriage. As a result, the emphasis on the importance of advance planning and equipment to foster future marital stability
1.3 Statement of the Issue
One of life’s most painful experiences is marital insecurity. Every married man and woman wishes to spend their lives together, joyfully, until death separates them. However, this is not always the case because, at some point in their lives, frictions arise, leading to the marriage’s near or total collapse. And this is one of the unavoidable difficulties that come with marriage.
Socio-cultural factors such as religious, age, socioeconomic status, social class, educational background, personality, traditional values, and so on influence the marital stability of couples are very important variables in marital stability, but the relevance of these factors is not recognized by many couples, which is why there are breakages in many homes as a result of no love, lack of understanding, lack of compatibility, disparity in age, education, and religion, and so on.
Many, for example, have failed to recognize that when couples of different cultures marry (inter-ethnic marriage), there is a need to respect each other’s culture because this translates to respecting the person you married and, as a result, marital stability.
Marriages nowadays fail due to a lack of tolerance, mutual trust, patience, non-child bearing, a lack of effective communication, a lack of good marital attitudes, similarities between couples, a lack of maturity, and a low socioeconomic status.
Finally, when couples are not from the same socio-cultural background and do not share the same value system and norms, they tend to differ in their understanding of themselves, and this, without a doubt, causes conflict and instability in the marital union.
1.4 Purpose of the Research
The primary goal of this research is to determine the impact of socio-cultural factors on marital stability among couples in Lagos State. Other goals of this study include:
2. Investigating whether there is a relationship between religion and marital stability among couples.
3. Determine whether there is a link between ethnicity and marital success among couples.
4. To determine whether communication has an impact on marital stability.
5. To determine whether socioeconomic status has an impact on the marital success of couples.
1.5 Questions for Further Research
The following research questions will help with the execution of this study:
1. Will socio-cultural variables have a significant impact on marital stability among couples?
2. Will there be a significant difference in marital stability based on ethnicity?
3. Will a couple’s religious background have an impact on their marital stability?
4. Does a couple’s socioeconomic status have a significant impact on their marital stability?
5. Will a couple’s marital stability suffer as a result of a lack of communication?
1.6 Hypotheses for Research
For this study, the following research hypotheses were developed and tested:
1. There is no significant influence of socio-cultural variables on the marital stability of couples.
2. Ethnicity has no discernible impact on the marital stability of couples.
3. Religion has no discernible impact on the marital stability of couples.
4. Communication has no discernible effect on the marital stability of couples.
1.7 Importance of the Research
Marriage should be carefully planned, and accidental marriages (marriages that are not planned but are forced on couples to save the family or families from embarrassment) should be avoided like the plague. Before a man marries his wife, both of them must be of legal age.
They must mature socially, economically, temperamentally, and financially, among other things. They must maintain feelings of love and affection in order to have a happy marriage. The wife must feel wanted, as well as a sense of belonging, care, and security. To ensure a stable marriage, the husband requires love and affection as well.
Marriage partners should avoid cognitive errors, which is to say, they should not expect the other person to notice them. As a result, if the husband wishes for his wife to behave in a certain way, he should inform her of his wishes; similarly, the wife should inform her husband of her wishes.
Sexual compatibility tends to foster marital stability, and marital oneness is heavily influenced by sex. In fact, sex is a legitimate form of communication in which two people (husband and wife) express oneness of mind and feeling. As a result, marriage partners should be socially compatible.
Childbearing is a factor that may or may not be her fault. The main may be too low to have an effect on pregnancy. To avoid unnecessary doubts, both the husband and wife should undergo a medical examination to rectify or correct the problem of childlessness.
Couples should not entertain the interference of in-laws or the third party syndrome if they want their marriage to succeed. They should avoid washing their dirty underwear in public. They should belong to the same religious sect, be on the same page, keep the peace in the home, and let love and affection rule their world.
1.8 The Limitation
The influence of socio-cultural variables on marital stability among couples in Lagos is the study’s limitation. 1.9 Impossibility The research will focus on the mainland local government area of Lagos State.
Because the research will only focus on the mainland local government area, the findings will be limited to the local government area. However, given the scope of the study, it is impossible to present all of the marital problems experienced by all of the couples in Lagos State. The findings can only be applied to other couples in similar situations.
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