ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of communication, age and education in marital conflict among couples. Survey, with crosssectional design was adopted in the study. 200 married couples, 100 male and 100 female, age range of 22-70, mean age of 42 years, participated in the study. The participants were drawn from Nsukka Urban. Volunteers were sought from among local Government staff, business men and women. The self-report conflict behavior scale (SRCBS) was used to test marital conflict while the personal report of spouse communication apprehension (PRSCA) was used to test communication difficulty of married persons. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis. It was found that communication played a significant role in marital conflict F(1, 189 = 41.68, p < .001. There was a significant interaction between communication and education F(1,189) = 4.64, p< .05. Discussion highlighted the role of social skills in engendering harmony in marital relationships. Suggestions were indicated for further research in marital conflict.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication i
Acknowledgment ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
List of tables v
List of figures vi
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Statement of problem 7
Purpose of the study 8
Operational definition of terms 8
Chapter Two: Literature Review
10
Theoretical review
10
Empirical review
18
Summary of literature review
32
Hypotheses
34
Chapter Three: Method
35
Participants
35
Instruments
35
9
Procedure
38
Design/Statistics
38
Chapter Four: Results
39
Chapter Five: Discussion
44
Implications of the study
47
Limitations of the study
47
Suggestions for further study
48
Summary and conclusion
50
References
51
Appendix A
57
Appendix B
58
