Influence of Spousal Communication on Marital Conflict Resolution as Expressed by Married Adults in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State: Implications for Counselling Practice

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of spousal communication on marital conflict resolution as expressed by married adults in the Ilorin metropolis. The research design adopted for the study was a descriptive design. A stratified sampling technique was employed to select 210 respondents. The main instrument used for the study was a researcher-designed questionnaire entitled “Influence of Spousal Communication on Marital Conflict Resolution Questionnaire (ISCMCRQ)”. The instrument was validated by experts in counseling and also yielded a reliability co-efficient of 0.88 after a test re-test reliability method. One research question was raised and three hypotheses were postulated and tested. An analysis of Variance and t-test were employed to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. Findings revealed that communication in marriage has a positive influence on marital conflict resolution. Findings also revealed that communication helps to resolve marital conflict if there is effective communication among couples and enhanced respect for each other. Ineffective communication between spouses leads to perceptive error. There were no significant differences in the influence of spousal communication style on marital conflict resolution as expressed by married adults in the Ilorin metropolis based on gender, age and educational qualification. It was therefore recommended that married adults should be encouraged to pay attention to the non-verbal communication aspects of their relationships.