Factors of Marital Conflicts Among State-Owned University Lecturers in North-Central, Nigeria: Implications for Guidance

The study investigated the factors of marital conflict among State Owned University Lecturers in North-central Nigeria: Implications for Guidance. A descriptive survey design was used in conducting the study and answering the research questions and hypotheses. The target population was state University Lecturers in North-central, Nigeria. The sample size was 340 Lecturers from the sampled State University Lectures in North-central Nigeria. A self-structured questionnaire titled: Factors of Marital Conflicts (FMC) was used. The researchers used descriptive and inferential statistics; percentages, frequency counts and mean scores for analyses of data on demographics and research questions. The t-test statistics was used for testing hypotheses 1 and 2. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that Marital Conflicts among State University Lecturers in North-central, Nigeria were due to factors such as the inability to appreciate individual differences, clash of interest and values, in-laws interference in marriage, betrayal of trust, inability to satisfy spouse sexually among others. The study also noted that Marital Conflicts among State University Lecturers lead to loss of spousal confidence, dissolution of marriage, physical assaults, poor emotional health of spouse and children, poor academic achievement by children, among others. The result of the study also showed that Marital Conflicts among State University Lecturers in North-central, Nigeria can be controlled by adopting flexibility when considering solutions, clear role definitions, the use of personality and character options such as being empathic, transparent, assertiveness, forgiveness, among others. It is therefore recommended that married  University Lecturers need to be educated about the factors of Marital Conflicts as a first step towards managing Conflict in marriage, the consequences of marital conflicts  should be published by all the stakeholders, such as marriage counsellors, parents, university Lecturers, religious leaders, couples, non-governmental organization, and so on. Lecturers irrespective of their working experience should always try as much as possible to exhaust all means for conflict resolution before taking any drastic actions that may end in dissolution of their marriages. Both male and female university lecturers in urban and rural areas should be aware of the factors, consequences and control of marital conflict as a common enemy that seeks to break their marriages.