Factors Influencing Marital Stability

Abstract

The marital institution is witnessing instability globally. This study investigated factors that influence marital stability as
perceived by literate spouses in Yenagoa metropolis of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The population of this study consist of all literate
married couples in Yenagoa metropolis. A total of 600 respondents were selected using the simple random sampling technique.
The instrument titled “Factors Influencing Marital Stability Questionnaire” (FIMSQ) was used in collecting the relevant data, with
Pearson reliability (r) of 0.78. Mean scores were used to analyze the main research question; Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and
the t-test statistics were used to test four null hypotheses generated for the study. The findings showed that in order of ranking,
social, behavioural, domestic, sexual, religious and financial factors influence marital stability. It further showed that there were
no significant differences among the respondents in their perception of factors influencing marital stability based on gender,
religion, educational level and length of marriage. Thus, some recommendations were made in line with the findings.