BIRTH ORDER AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS CORRELATES OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG MARRIED PERSONS IN YENAGOA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAYELSA STATE

BIRTH ORDER AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS CORRELATES OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG MARRIED PERSONS IN YENAGOA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAYELSA STATE

 

Introduction

The relevance of family and marriage and their influence on the society cannot be overemphasized, therefore, there is no society without family. Life is a path usually travelled with a partner. It is full of communication, expectation, adjustment and identification. Every person identifies his/her self in a role and according to this, the journey of life begins. Marriage is one milestone of life, where on selects a partner, with a new role and ne expectation. The concept of marriage must have been given many interpretations by different persons, religions, philosophers and may be by the various interpretations or definitions. The most commonly accepted concept of marriage is that it is a lifelong sacred commitment. It is one of the most important relationships between a man and a woman. It is the responsibility for peace, happiness and development of strong family relationship. It involves emotional and legal commitment that is quite important in any adult’s life. There is no doubt that the choice of marital partnership is one of the most important decisions one makes in his/her life time. People marry for many reasons like, love, happiness companionship, the desire to have children, physical attraction, even with a desire to escape from an unhappy situation. Bali. Rajni and Baru (2010) explained that marital adjustment is the process of modifying, adopting or altering individual and couple’s pattern of behaviour and interaction to achieve maximum satisfaction in the relationship.

All the above assertions put together brings about the concept of marital adjustment; Enormous adjustment with spouses is an important factor in determining marital and family environment, Interpersonal conflicts in married life can create a lot of stress among spouses and other family members. Prolonged stress also leads to psychological disturbance. It is observed that people have changed their attitude towards marriage. Family structure has also seemingly undergone substantial changes in recent times especially in the context of roles performed by husbands and wives. The foundation of the family is laid through the marriage of couples who pledges many promises to each other, such as commitment, faithfulness and fulfilling responsibilities. After marriage, individuals start to live together and raise their children that will be born in their family environment. The quality of the marriage is determined with concepts of adjustment, satisfaction and happiness, as well as evaluations of married couples. Marital adjustment is the satisfaction and happiness couples have in their’ marriage. There are many factors affecting the marital adjustment of couples, such as ages of couples, duration of marriage, communication between them, fulfilling their desires and expectations, making common decisions, relations with the family and relatives, agreeing on leisure time activities and family budget (Kislak-Tutarel and Goztepe, 2012).

Although divorce and separation in its actual prevalence is ‘not well documented in Nigeria, previous studies indicate that high rates of divorce have been part of nuptiality culture of many parts of Nigeria (Solivetti cited in Ntoimo and Akokuwebe, 2014). However, high rate of remarriage, and stigma associated with marital separation conceal the actual prevalence. Based on divorce cases recorded by area courts arid demographic field work in the Niger valley of Sokoto state in northern Nigeria. Solivetti found that divorce rate per 1000 population in 1979 ranged from 11.0 to 19.9; higher than the prevailing rates in some European countries at the time. In the southern part of Nigeria, among the Yako, Forde cited in Ntoimo and Akokuwebe (2014) reported that 30 percent of married women divorced.

Lloyd cited in Ntoimo and Akokuwebe (2014) also observed rates of divorce per 100 extant marriages of between 3.4 percent and 4.5 percent among the Yoruba of southwest Nigeria. Although divorce in Nigeria is usually attributed to influx of Western ideals and lifestyle through education, urbanization and women empowerment, that rates in the northern Hausa community, exceeded prevailing rates in some Europe countries at the time indicates that modern lifestyle is contributing more to women’s resistance to patriarchal traditions that enforce remarriage than to the incidence of divorce.

Marital adjustment is the effort of the spouses themselves and to each other to reach a consensus, achieve common purpose and balance on the specific condition of marriage. Marriages of couples who interact with each other, who can agree on marriage and family issues and solve their problems positively are defined as harmonious marriages (Erbek Yeark, 2005), Marriage adjustment is the process of changing, adopting, and correcting the behavior and interaction of individuals, and couples in order to achieve maximum satisfaction in relation (Bali, Dhingra, and Baru, 2010). A harmonious marriage is hidden in the completion of a wife and her husband in all areas of life materially and spiritually (Ozuurlu cited in Güven, 2017). It is important for marriage adjustment that spouses have ripeness in understanding of the growth and development in their relationship. If this development is not fully realized, the end of the marriage relationship is inevitable. Because marital adjustment requires a satisfying relationship between spouses, characterized by reciprocal interest, involvement understanding and acceptance (Slathia, 20l4). Although it is very important on the first days of marriage, marital adjustment is a fact that should last a lifelong. Sexual harmony and mutual pleasure are among the most important factors that access marital adjustment to success (Goel and Narang, 2012). Different birth orders of individuals could have different characteristics that may not fulfill the’ factors of individuals in relationships leading to failed marriages, failed relationships, or dissatisfaction in their current relationships.

AdIer who is known with the concept of birth order initially labeled this position as birth order, and later added the concept of psychological or perceived order to address the notion that children often choose or perceive themselves to have a specific role rather than fall into an assigned role based on the order of their birth. Children rely heavily on their family environment and interaction to shape and create their own unique personality because these are the initial stimuli to which children are exposed. In this environment, children begin to develop their own behavioural traits and characteristics that are often utilized outside the home. Thus, children tend to develop their own personalities, based on their roles in the home, which manifest into social roles in adulthood (Mosak and Maniacci cited in Nash, 2009). Because heavy emphasis is placed on the influences interaction and family environment have on the development of children, from an Adlerian perspective, negative reactions and maladjustment to possible changes within the environment can subsequently occur. It could be observed by the researcher that since, birth order influences of one’s personality, it is highly likely that such personality could follow one to adulthood and marriage. Adler proposed four birth orders which are the first child, middle child, last child and the only child. The introduction of a new child to a family brings about changes in attention given to the previous child hence their differences in behaviour.

The most important determinants of harmony among spouses are what is expected from
marriage. Whether the expectations are realistic and the expectation of the woman and the man overlap each other determine the quality of harmony in a marriage (Tarhan, 2007). One of the preconditions of a harmonious marriage is emotional intelligence as it is envisaged by the researcher that an emotionally intelligent spouse will be able to adjust faster than his/her cou1terpart of the contrary. Emotional intelligence refers to the person’s ability to perceive,
understand, regulate and proper use of emotions in life Mayer and Salovey cited in Saadia,
Sonia, Muhammad, Tipu and Yasir (2012). It is an important ability for a person to behave in a proper way in certain conditions. A person can understand his/her own emotions as well as other’s emotions. It plays an important role in marital adjustment. Some researchers have conducted and confirmed that emotional intelligence has great impact on marital adjustment. Managing self-emotions and others emotions help the partner to resolve conflicts and live a satisfy life (Fitness, 2001).

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive (e.g., identification of emotion from the facial expression of others), understand (e.g., understanding the transition of emotion from one component to another), use (e.g., using emotion to facilitate thought process) and regulate emotions (or management of emotion) (Mayer and Salovey cited in Suvarna and Nutankumar, 2009). The self-report measure can be considered as perceived emotional intelligence as it reflects perception of the emotion abilities but ability measure can be considered as a type of intelligence (Thingujam, 2004). Fitness (2001) pointed out that emotion perception, understanding and reasoning about emotions, and regulating or managing emotions are important in marriage.

However, Fitness further suggests that the link between marital happiness and these aspects of emotional intelligence may not be completely straightforward. It could be observed by the researcher that most couples having marital challenges could be as a result of poor emotional intelligence as this could be deduced from their attitude towards each other. Epstein cited in Suvarna and Nutankumar (2009) suggested that people who are skilled at reading other individual’s emotions may well us it for either constructive or destructive purposes. So, spouses may exploit partners’ vulnerabilities and insecurities for own purposes with the help of emotional intelligence abilities (Fitness, 2001). Emotional intelligence is made up of five components which are Self-Awareness, Self- confidence, Self-Control, Empathy and Social-Competence. This study will be looking into the first four which from the researcher’s observation would be necessary for individual marital adjustment.

Self-awareness reflects the ability of a high El person to accurately identify how he/she projects himself/herself to others (Thomas, 2004). Self-awareness is the lead constituent of El which comprises of having a thorough understanding of emotions, weaknesses, strengths, needs and drives of one’s self. Individuals who possess a high degree of self-awareness are able to recognize their feelings and how it affects them, other People, and their performance at work. Abraham (2007) explains self-awareness as a person’s ability to understand his or her feelings, bearing in mind changes in feelings from time to time. Tjan (2012) wrote in his Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog that without self-awareness individuals cannot fully understand their weakness and strength. According to Goleman (2002) self-awareness is the foundation for the rest of the components. It is the ability to recognize which emotion moods, and impulses one is experiencing and why. This component of emotional intelligence as observed by the researcher becomes very vital for marital adjustment as couples comes from different backgrounds and they need to study each other’s emotions to enable them cope and live in harmony. It could he observed by the researcher that most cases of divorces lying in the court wouldn’t have been there if the couples were able to understand their feelings and that of their spouses.

Self-Confidence, is a vital part of the Behavioral EQ Model. It refers to the emotions connected with self-worth and individual competence. It is a marker of the confidence a man feels in his insight and capacities, and his capacity to pass on this confidence to others. Individuals with high’ self-confidence are seen by others as self-guaranteed and responsible. They can venture out of their usual ranges of familiarity and overcome new difficulties. Marriage ought to be a place of fun where two persons come together to share experiences and build a family but due to personality differences and psychological build tip of the individuals, there seems to be loss of these opportunities that comes along with marriage where there is lack of self-confidence in both or either of the couples. It could be observed by the researcher that couples with self-confidence would always figure out a way to cope with challenges that emanates from such marriages. They will be acquainted with the attitude that marriage is a life time relationship so divorce would be a no go thought.

Self-control is typically necessary when motivational conflicts occur, also self-control
is mostly used to resolve these conflicts in a specific direction, namely for long term, social responsibility and enlightened rationality as a replacement for short term self-centeredness or indulging in tempting pleasures. A self-controlled spouse or couple would be able to manage his/her anger and that of his/her partner. Self-controlled persons are flexible and respond to
changes easily and plan likewise. An environment of fairness and trust is created when couples exercise self-control. In today’s marriages that are loaded with pressure, ambiguity and change, the success of couples is greatly dependent on the, ability to control emotions, this impacts one’s health and the health of others. The combination of self-control and self- awareness will help couple relate in fairness in their actions and reactions. It will also help keep them highly motivated.

Empathy plays a pronounced port in relationship management. The Empathy competence gives people an astute awareness of others’ emotions, concerns, and needs. The empathic spouse can read emotional currents, picking up on nonverbal cues such as tone of voice or facial expression. Empathy requires self-awareness; our understanding of others’ feelings and concerns flows from awareness of our own feelings. It is that quality of a spouse which can win the support and trust of his/her partner. Empathy skills let couples to comprehend better other peoples’ perceptions and views, making the marital atmosphere more pleasurable and harmonious. Empathy has become more and more significant to success of marriages because empathic couples are more probable to have a suitable amount of openness about diversity and the variances between cultures, (Atwater and Waldman, 2008). Martinovski, Trauin and Marsella (2007) stated that empathy plays an imperative role in increasing trust in couples’ interactions. Empathy aids couples to have an enhanced understanding of new social environments, and assists them quickly learn and adjust to new life style. Holding to the fact that birth order predicts emotional intelligence (Odiase and Ohre, 2020), one might predict the first child would adjust better and faster in marriage but that seems not clear as the study tends to reveal that subsequently. Thus, it is o this note the researcher seeks to investigate birth order and emotional intelligence as predictors of marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Statement of Problem

Marriage becomes realistic when two persons of opposite sex of age come together to become one in holy matrimony and build a Family together. The researcher by experience could observe that adjusting to live together with a spouse is, the key to marital bliss and beginning of any harmonious family. The family is the basic unit of the society and the foundation of every human personality.

When the family is unstable, it affects every member of it. The effects of the instability of the family cannot be overemphasized; it can disrupt the lives of children who are the future of any society. This is why marital adjustment is of paramount importance in the society today. Couples, especially those that are newly wedded need to learn the art of marital adjustment not simply for their own satisfaction, but also for the wellbeing of their families. Unfortunately this sour situation is becoming more common even in our own society. With the rate at which couple’s divorce, a lot of young people are scared of getting married. Divorce is has become a societal problem in any developed countries in the world. The official rate of divorce in Nigeria is 0.2% for men and 0.3% for women. Yet this statistics, exclude the vast majority of Nigerians whose traditional marriages are not governed by modern law. Divorce may not be so common in Nigeria at least officially but the number of unhappy and unstable marriages is on the increase. Many reasons have been accounted for the cause of divorce which include poverty as believed by many but from
the researcher’s experience, it could be seen that divorce has no barrier when it comes to status of couples. There is a public believe that last born children nags a lot and they take such attitude to their matrimonial homes. With the high rate of divorce among married persons recently especially in Yeagoa Local Government Area, it becomes suspicious that most of these married persons are finding it difficult to cope with the challenges that comes with marriage hence the issue of emotional intelligence which deals with the ability of one to understand people’s behaviour becomes a vital requirement for persons who intend to get married. Having in mind the relevance of emotional intelligence order, it our wellbeing and the relationship between emotional intelligence and birth order becomes necessary therefore to investigate birth order and emotional intelligence as predictors of marital adjustment among married persons in4Yengoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to investigate birth order and emotional intelligence as correlate of
marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa
State. Specifically, the objectives of this study are to:

1.    To determine the influence of birth order (first child, middle child, last child and only
child) on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government
Area of Bayelsa State.

2.    To examine the extent to which self-awareness predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenago Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

3.    To determine the extent to which self-confidence predicts marital adjustment among
married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

4.    To find out the extent to which self-control predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

5.    To determine the except to which empathy predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of I3ayelsa state.

6.    To examine the predictive powers of the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Research Questions

Six research questions were answered in this study.

1.    What is the influence of birth order (first child, middle child, last child and only child) on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

2.    To what extent does self-awareness predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

3.    To what extent does self-confidence predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

4. To what extent does self-control predict marital adjustment among married persons in
Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

5.    To what extent does empathy predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

6.    To what extent does the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence predict marital adjustment arnon1g married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance to guide this study.

1.    Birth order (first child, middle child, last child and only child) does not significantly influence marital adjustment among married persons.in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

2.    Self-awareness does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

3.    Self-confidence does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

4.    Self-control does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government A.: f Bayelsa state.

5.    Empathy does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

6.    The combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

Significance of the Study

It is hoped the findings of this study would benefit couples and intending couples. The findings of this study may also benefit families, young persons and parents etc. There are several cases where people believe they should be that they are as result of their birth position; this is very common among last born children who believes they should always be pampered and bringing this to the matrimonial home, it becomes a challenge where for the opposite spouse may not have the qualities of pampering his/her spouse. This study may help to guide such persons to adjust by taking away such irrational believe.

Most families today have been separated as a result of consistent battery, it is envisaged by the researcher that families may live in harmony as the study may highlight some negative effects of poor emotional intelligence and measures of developing better emotional intelligence.

There are couples who are going through challenges and difficulties in their homes who may find this work to be of immense help because it may expose them to the causes and resolution of these challenges and the nature of help them to avoid such challenges in their marriage.

This study may be of immense help to intending couples as the study intends to expose the relevance of adjusting to a new life style in marriage as a static behaviour is t barrier to smooth marital adjustment. The study may prepare them ahead of marital life.

Finally, this study may serve as reference point to other researchers who intend to carry out study related to this study.

Population of the Study

The population of the study is made up of all married persons in Yehagoa Local Government which include divorced and separated spouses. The population of persons in Yenagoa comprises of 182,240 males and
170,045 females making a total population of 352,285. From this population, Based on the 2010 projected population of the National Population Commission, the adult population of Yenagoa Local Government area is about 63.3% of the population which when calculated is 222,996.41 of the entire population of 352,85.

Sample and Sampling Procedure

A sample of 400 married persons was used for the study. The sam1vas determined using the Taro Yemen Formula. The formula is given N/l+N(e). Where N represents the population which is 222,996.41 and “e” represents the alpha level of 0.05. Simple random sampling and convenient sampling techniques was used to draw the sample size. Simple random sampling was used to drawn 20 communities out of the 21 communities while convenient sampling technique was used to draw 20 couples from each of’ the sampled communities. In total, 400 married persons were drawn.

Validity of the Instrument

Copies of the instrument were given to three specialists, in Measurement and Evaluation to study whether the instrument actually measured superficially what they were expected to measure. They were also requested to look at the content of the instrument, alongside the number of items, difficulty and ambiguity level of the items and make valuable ‘contributions for improvement where necessary, by including addition items for the variables the instrument intend to measure.

Reliability of the Instrument

The reliability of the instruments Birth Order and Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (MAS) .were estimated using the Cronbach alpha reliability method of internal consistency. The instruments were trial-tested on a sample of 30 respondents.

In line with Cronbach alpha method, every item in the instrument was analyzed for quality and selection. Reliability of the items in the self-awareness subscale at 0.65, self- confidence at 0.61, self-control at 0.73, empathy at 0.68 while that of Marital Adjustment Scale (MAS) was realized at 0.69 which makes the instruments reliable for the study.

Method of Data Analysis

Mean ‘and standard deviation was used to answer research question I while research questions 2 to 5 were answered using simple regression. Research question 6 was answered using multiple regression. Hypothesis I was tested with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Using t-test associated with regression while hypothesis 6 was ANOVA and t-test associated with multiple regression.

 

Findings and Discussion

Data Presentation

Research Question 1: What is the influence of birth order (first child, middle child, last child and only child) on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government
Area of Bayelsa State?

Table 1: Mean and standard deviation of the influence of birth order (First child, Middle
child, last child and only child) on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa
Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Birth Order	N		SD
First Child	115	58.26	0.21
Middle Child	125	61.07	0.33
Last Child	87	48.44	0.16
Only Child	73	45.52	0.11
Total	400

 

 Table 1 above revealed that the middle child has the highest level of marital adjustment
with a mean score of 61.07, middle child with a mean score of 58.26, last child with a mean score of 48.44 while last child .with a mean score of 45.52. Therefore, birth order influences marital adjustment.

Research Question 2: To what extent does self-awareness predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

 

Table 2: Regression analysis of the extent to which self-awareness predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Variables	N		SD	R		Adjusted	Std. Error of the estimate
Self-awareness		69.50	2.01
Marital adjustment	400	70.25	1.92	0.90	0.810	0.810	.87652

 

 

Table 2 shows that self-awareness arid marital adjustment obtained a correlation coefficient of 0.90 which indicates a strong positive correlation. An R² of 0.810 was obtained, however, for a more reliable result, adjusted R² obtained at 0.810 was used to answer the research
question. The obtained adjusted R square showed that self-awareness accounts for 81% (0.81
x 100 = 81%) variation in marital adjustment. Thus self-awareness predicts marital adjustment.

 

 

 

Research Question 3: To what extent does self-confidence predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

Table 3: Regression analysis of the extent to which self-confidence predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Variables	N		SD	R		Adjusted	Std. Error of the estimate
Self-awareness		63.43	1.21
Marital adjustment	400	66.33	0.87	0.88	0.777	0.776	.95055

Table 4.3 shows that self-confidence and marital adjustment obtained a correlation coefficient of 0.88 which indicates a strong positive correlation. An R² of 0777 was obtained, however, for a more relia1e result; adjusted R² obtained at 0.776 as used to answer the research question. The obtained adjusted R square showed that self-confidence accounts for 77.6% (0.776 x 100 = 77.6%) variation in marital adjustment. Thus self-confidence predicts marital adjustment.

 

Research Question 4: To what extent does self-control predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

 

Table 4: Regression analysis of the extent to which self-control predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Variables	N		SD	R		Adjusted	Std. Error of the estimate
Self-Control		58.50	0.31
Marital adjustment	400	62.46	1.28	0.91	0.830	0.829	.82874

 

Table 4.4 shows that self-control and marital adjustment obtained a correlation coefficient of
0.91 which indicates a strong positive correlation. An R² of 0.830 was obtained, however, for
a more reliable result; adjusted R² obtained at 0.829 was used to answer the research question. The obtained adjusted R square showed that self-control accounts for 82.9% (0.829 x 00 =.
82.9%) variation in marital adjustment. Thus self-control predicts marital adjustment.

 

 

 

Research Question 5: To what extent does empathy predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

 

Table 5: Regression analysis of the extent to which empathy predicts rnrita1 adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Variables	N		SD	R		Adjusted	Std. Error of the estimate
Self-awareness		59.35	1.08
Marital adjustment	400	61.55	0.17	0.89	0.807	0.807	.87730

 

Table 4.5 shows that empathy and marital adjustment obtained correlation coefficient of
0.89 which indicates a strong positive correlation. An R² of 0.807 was obtained, however, for
a more reliable result; adjusted R² obtained at 0.807 was used to answer the research question. The obtained adjusted R square showed that empathy accounts for 80.7% (0.807 x 100 =
80.7%) variation in marital adjustment. Thus empathy predicts marital adjustment.

 

Research Question 6: To what extent does the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State?

 

Table 6: Regression analysis of the extent to which the combination of self-awareness,
self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence predict marital
adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Variables	N		SD	R		Adjusted	Std. Error of the estimate
Self-awareness		69.85	1.99
Self-confidence		70.20	1.94
Self-control	400	25.09	0.42	0.90	0.810	0.808	0.87503
Empathy		19.50	0.56

 

Table 4.6 shows that self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy combined obtained a correlation coefficient of 0.900 which indicates a strong positive correlation. An R² of 0.810was obtained, however, for a more reliable result, adjusted R² obtained at 0.80 was used to answer the research question. The obtained adjusted R² showed that self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy combined accounts for 80.8% (0.808 x 100 = 80.8%) variation in marital adjustment: Thus, self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy combined predict marital adjustment.

 

Hypotheses Testing

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Hypothesis 1: Birth order (first child, middle child, last child and only child) does not significantly influence marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Table 7: One way Analysis of Variance for significant influence of birth order on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local 6overnrnent Area of Bayelsa State.

Variables	Sum of squares		Mean square	F
Between Groups	2.468	3	.823	206	.000
Within Groups	1585.442	396	4.004
Total	1587.910	399

 

Table 7 shows that the computed F-value is .206, which is statistically significant at .000
level of alpha. Therefore, the null hypothesis which states that birth order (first child, middle
child, last child and only child) does not significantly influence marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state is rejected. In other t words, there is significant influence of birth order on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.

 

 

 

Hypothesis 2: Self-awareness does not significantly predict marital’ adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Table 8: Regression ana1ysis of the predictive powers of self-awareness on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients			95.0% Confidence Interval for B
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
1	(constant) VAR00002	554	.179		3.090	.002	.202	.907
		.917	.025	.881	37.230	.000	.869	.696

 

Table 8 above shows that the value of the constant a is .554 with s1ndard error of .179
while the regression coefficient is .917 with standard error of .025. The value of the slope b
after conversion to standardized coefficients produced a value of .881. The standardized
coefficient of .881 is significant at (Sig.) .000. The value of the slope b converted to standardized coefficient is .88 1. This implies that for every one standard deviation increase in self-awareness, score on marital adjustment increases by .881. The t-value of 37.230 associated with the b-values (standardized and unstandardized) indicates that self-awareness significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.

 

 

 

Hypothesis 3: Self-confidence does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Table 9: Regression analysis of the predictive powers of self-confidence on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients			95.0% Confidence Interval for B
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
1	(constant) VAR00002	339	.166		2.174	.030	.032	.646
		.943	.021	.911	44.057	.000	.900	.985

 

Table 9 above shows that the value of the constant a is standard error of .156 while the regression coefficient is .943 with standard error of .021. The value of the slope 1, after conversion to standardized coefficients produced a value of .911. The standardized coefficient of .911 is significant at (Sig.) .000. The value of the slope b converted to standardized coefficient is .9 11. This implies that for every one standard deviation increase in self-confidence, score on marital adjustment increases by .911; The t-value of 44.057 associated with the b-values (standardized and unstandardized) indicates that self-confidence significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.

 

 

 

Hypothesis 4: Self-control does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Table 10: Regression analysis of the predictive powers of self-control on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of l3ayelsa state.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients			95.0% Confidence Interval for B
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
1	(constant) VAR00002	513	.165		3.118	.002	.190	.837
		.922	.023	.898	40.806	.000	.878	.966

 

Table 10 above shows that the value of the constant a is .513 with standard error of .165 while the regression coefficient is .922 with standard error of .023. The value of the slope b after conversion to standardized coefficients produced a value of .898. The standardized coefficient of .898 is significant at (Sig.) .000. The value of the slope b converted to standardized coefficient is .898. This implies that for every one standard deviation increase in self-control, score on marital adjustment increases by .898. The 1-value of 40.806 associated with the b-values (standardized and unstandardized) indicates that self-control significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.

 

 

 

 

Hypothesis 5: Empathy does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Table 11: Regression analysis of the predictive powers of empathy on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local, Government Area of Bayelsa State.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients			95.0% Confidence Interval for B
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
1	(constant) VAR00002	7.158	.173		41.380	.000	6.818	7.498
		.018	.015	.061	1.226	.001	.047	.011

 

Table 11 above shows that the value of the constant a is 7.158 with standard error of .173
while the regression coefficient is 0.18 with standard error of .015. The value of the slope h
after conversion to’ standardized coefficients produced a value of .061. The standardized
coefficient of .061 is significant at (Sig.) .000. The value of the slope b converted to standardized coefficient is .061. This implies that for every one standard deviation increase in empathy, score on marital adjustment increases by .061. The t-value of 1.226 associated with the b-values (standardized and’ unstandardized) indicates that empathy significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government 4rea of Bayelsa State. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.

 

 

 

Hypothesis 7: The combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence does not significantly predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Table 12: Analysis of variance of the predictive powers of the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

	Model	Sum of squares	df	Mean square	F	Sig.
1	Regression	1285.471	4	321.368	411.721	.000b
	Residual	302.439	395	766
	Total	1587.910	399

 

Table 13: t-test analysis of the predictive powers of the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients			95.0% Confidence Interval for B
	Model	B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
1	(constant)	.573	.301		1.900	.058	.020	1.165
	Self-awareness	.915	.023	.891	39.624	.000	.869	.960
	Self-confidence	.403	.016	.007	210	.034	.034	.027
	Self-control	.529	.018	.053	1.617	.107	.065	.006
	Empathy	.293	.046	.072	2.038	.042	.003	.183

 

Table 12 above has shown that when converted to F, the correlation has an F ratio of. 411.721 that is significant (p0.5). This implies that self-awareness, self-confidence, self- control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence combined significantly predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Table 4.13 shows that unstandardized multiple regression of .915 for self-awareness, .403 for self-confidence, .529 for self-control and .293 for empathy. The table has also shown that self-awareness with t-value of 39.624 is significant at .000, sell-con0dence with t-value of .210 is significant at .034, self-control with t-value of 1.617 is significant at .107 and empathy with t-value of 2.038 is significant at .042. Therefore, each of the motiona1 intelligence has significant contribution to, marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Discussion of Findings

The findings of the study are discussed hereunder one by one.

Influence of birth order (First child, midd1e child, last child and only child) on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

There is significant influence of with order on marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayesa State. This indicates that a persons’ position in
the family determines his/her level of adjustment to marriage. It was further revealed that the middle children in a family adjust better in marriage more than others. This finding agreed with that, of Bulla and Reinba (2001) where they stated among others that couples who fall under the middle child have a better marital adjustment more than every other birth order couples. Furthermore, the findings of this study disagreed with that of Okute and Bihina (2002) where they stated among others that women that are first child have higher level of marital adjustment by 64% although the study further revealed that men do not differ in their birth order on marital adjustment.

This disagreement could be as a result of different research area.

 

 

Extent to which self-awareness predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Self-awareness predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Self-awareness accounts for 81% variation in marital adjustment. This implies that a married person with high level of self-awareness adjust better to marriage. Therefore self-awareness helps married person to adjust to marriage easily, this finding disagrees with that of Onabamiro, Owoyele and Elijah (2017) where they stated that there is no significant relationship between self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and marital adjustment. Furthermore, this study agreed with that of Olainide (2018) where he stated among others that couples with high score on self-awareness have a better level of marital adjustment.

Extent to which self-confidence predict marital adjustment among married persons in Ycnagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Self-confidence predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Self-confidence accounts for 77.6% variation in marital
adjustment. This indicates that a married person with high level of self-confidence will adjust
better in marriage. Therefore self-confidence helps a married person to adjust to marriage
easily. This finding agreed with that of Maduka, Echem, Dikolo and Eruke (2011) where they staled among others that couples with self-control and self-confidence have a good level of’ marital adjustment. Furthermore, this finding agreed with that of Koko, Odibie, Feduku and Gilbert (2001) where they stated among others that couples with average score on all scales of emotional intelligence have a beer level of marital adjustment.

 

 

Extent to Which self-control predict marital adjustment among married person in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Self-control predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Self-control accounts for 82.9% variation in marital adjustment. This indicates that a married person with high level of self-control will adjust better in marriage. Therefore self-control helps a married person to adjust to marriage easily. This finding agreed with that of Maduka, Echem, Dikolo and Eruke (2011) where they stated among others that couples with self-control and self-confidence have a good level of marital adjustment. Furthermore, this finding agreed with that of Koko, Odibie, Feduku and Gilbert (2001) where they stated among others that couples with average score on all scales of’ ernotion1 intelligence have a better level of marital adjustment.

Extent to which empathy predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 

Empathy predicts marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Empathy accounts for 80.7% variation in marital adjustment. This implies that a married person with high level of empathy will adjust better in marriage. Therefore empathy helps a married person to adjust to marriage easily. This finding agreed with that of Moro (2003) where they revealed among others that couples with empathic emotional intelligence have better marital adjustment. Furthermore, this finding agreed with that of Koko, Odibie, Feduku and Gilbert (2001) where they stated among others that couples with average score on all scales of emotional intelligence have a better level of marital adjustment.

 

 

 

Extent to which combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy (subscale) of emotional intelligence predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy combined accounts for 80.8% variation in marital adjustment. This implies that self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy combined predict marital adjustment among married persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. This indicates that the combination of self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy will help a married person adjust to marriage. This finding agreed with that of Koko, Odibie Feduku and Gilbert (2001) where they revealed among others that couples with average score on all scales of emotional intelligence have a better level of marital adjustment.

Furthermore, this finding also agreed with that of Dildar, Bashir, Shoaib, Sultan and Saeed (2012) where they revealed among others that couples with higher emotional intelligence were more adjusted in their marital lives than those who had low level of emotional inte1ligence

 

 

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