BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS, COMMUNICATION STYLES AND MARITAL ADJUSTMENT OF MARRIED ADULTS IN NIGERIA

Dr. (Mrs.) Rachel M. Ajayi & Prof. (Mrs.) Mary O. Esere

Abstract

Unhappiness in marriage, incidence of broken homes, several cases of divorce are increasing among married adults in Nigeria. This study investigated behaviour patterns, communication styles and marital adjustment of married adults in Nigeria. Descriptive survey design of correlational type was adopted for the study. A total of 1690 married adults in Nigeria was drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. The instrument  entitled “Behaviour Patterns, Communication Styles and Marital Adjustment Questionnaire” The findings revealed that: a higher percentage 65.02% of the respondents displayed Type A behaviour pattern, while 34.9 % of the respondents displayed Type B behaviour pattern; 1554 (92.0%) of the respondents used appropriate communication styles,   while 136 (8.0%) used inappropriate communication  styles; 92.5% of the respondents had positive marital adjustment, while 127(7.5%) had negative marital adjustment and there was a significant relationship among behaviour patterns ,communication styles and marital adjustment of adults in Nigeria. The study concluded that there was a significant and positive relationship among behaviour patterns, communication styles and marital adjustment of married adults in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended, amongst others that marriage counselors should organize married adults’ education programme where married adults would be guided on characteristics of different patterns of human behaviours.