Assessment and Management of Fear of Marriage among Young Adults in Tertiary Institutions in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract
The study assessed and managed fear of marriage among young adults in tertiary institutions in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. It examined differences in the parental marital background and cultural practices of young adults as the relate to their fear of marriage, determined the difference in the fear of marriage and aversion to Polygyny and whether mate selection preference would be related to young adults’ fear of marriage. The study also determined the difference in the post test scores of young adults on fear of marriage between experimental and control groups. The study adopted quasi-experimental pretest, posttest control group design. The sample comprised 475 students and workers selected by random sampling technique using their colleges, sex, age and parental marital status as strata. Four research instruments were used for data collection namely: “Fear of Marriage Questionnaire” (FMQ), Cultural Practices Questionnaire (CPQ), Mate Selection Preference Index (MSPI) and Aversion to Polygyny Scale (APS), which was developed by the researcher, were used to collect data for the study. Six research hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data collected were analyzed using One-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Fisher’s protected t-test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and independent t-test. Results from the analysis of data indicated that five of the six null hypotheses were rejected while one was accepted. Results showed that there was a significant difference in the fear of marriage among young adults due to their age, parental marital background and differences in their cultural practices. It further revealed that mate selection preference significantly induced fear of marriage among participants exposed to experimental condition. It was also established that there was no significant difference in the aversion to polygyny of the students and the working class young adults. Moreso, participants exposed to treatment significantly manifested lower levels of fear of marriage than those participants in the control group. It was also found that many young adults have different perceptions of marriage regardless of whether their parents were in marriage, separated or divorced. Hence, counselling therapists, using symbolic modelling can work effectively with people harbouring fear of marriage particularly to help them understand marital roles and expectations. The study recommended the use of video tapes on simulated successful marriages that could restructure the cognition, attitudes and behaviours of young adults thereby eliminating the fear of marriage among them.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos
Keywords
Marriage-Young adults , Tertiary institutions , Cultural practices , Fear , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Social anthropology/ethnography::Ethnography
Citation
Olotu, M.O (2016). Assessment and Management of Fear of Marriage among Young Adults in Tertiary Institutions in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation, 147pp.