Influence of Psychological Factors on Marital Satisfaction among Spouses in the North West Senatorial District of Benue state, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated psychological factors influencing marital satisfaction among spouses in Benue north-west

senatorial district. In doing this, two research objectives with corresponding research questions and hypotheses were

stated for the study. These are; to examine the influence of self-esteem and self-efficacy on marital satisfaction among

spouses in Benue North-West senatorial district. The dynamic goal theory of marital satisfaction was used for the

study. In the area of methodology, the research adopted the cross-sectional survey design. The population was all the

married men and women (spouses) in the area. A sample size of 385 was determined using Cochran’s formula. The

multi-stage sampling procedure involving systematic sampling technique, fishbowl and convenience sampling

technique were used to select Gboko, Gwer-East, and Makurdi local government and wards respectively. A structured

questionnaire titled Psych-social Factors and Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSFAMSQ) was used to elicit

information from spouses in each of the selected local government area. The descriptive statistics of mean and

standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, and inferential statistics of chi-square to test the two

hypotheses. The study found among others that the psychological factors of self-esteem and self-efficacy have

significant positive influence on marital satisfaction among spouses in North West Senatorial district of Benue state,

Nigeria. The study recommends among others that, government should employ trained psychologists and counsellors

and post them to all the community counselling and social welfare centres to help counsel and guide spouses for better

marital satisfaction.