COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN ABEOKUTA METROPOLIS

Abstract

Marital Communication entails the use of various strategies to communicate in different domains for successful relationships. This study examined the communication strategies adopted in marital satisfaction among the academic staff of tertiary institutions in Abeokuta metropolis. Two hundred and forty-two academic staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Federal College of Education (FCE) Abeokuta and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) Abeokuta were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected on the personal characteristics of the respondents, communication strategies adopted in marital satisfaction using a structured questionnaire and analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that 64.16% of the respondents were male while 35.84 were female, 40.4% were between 45 and 54 years and 40.8% were Muslims. Most (65.0%) of the respondents were married, 95.0% practised monogamy and 44.1% had been married for 10-15 years. Ignoring communication strategy was most used for friends (x ̅=2.50), other relations and neighbours (x ̅=2.24) and conflict management and resolution (x ̅=1.31). Listening, discussion and ignoring strategies in parenting (x ̅=2.11), health (x ̅=1.58) and treatment of other relations and neighbours respectively resulted in high satisfaction among the respondents. Ignoring strategy was also commonly used by the respondents in FCE (34.1%), MAPOLY (25.9%) and FUNAAB (22.7%). Correlation result revealed a significant (p<0.05) relationship between respondents’ communication strategies (r=0.712) and marital satisfaction. ANOVA showed a significant (p<0.05) difference in couples’ communication strategies across the selected institutions (F=0.084). This study concluded that appropriate use of communication strategies among couples resulted in marital satisfaction. The study recommends that couples need to understand their partners to know the preferred strategies of communication in order to reduce conflicts and attain marital satisfaction.