PSYCHO-PREDICTORS OF GAMOPHOBIA AMONG UNMARRIED POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE
PSYCHO-PREDICTORS OF GAMOPHOBIA AMONG UNMARRIED POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE
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- Published: 25 January 2023
PSYCHO-PREDICTORS OF GAMOPHOBIA AMONG UNMARRIED POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE
BY
OSAI, MIRRIAM
Phone: +234-8033100987
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&
PROF. C. G AWUJO
Phono: +234-8056108520
Department of Educational Psychology,
Guidance and Couselling, Faculty of Education,
University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Abstract
This study was carryout to determine some psycho-predictors of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers State. To achieve this aim, three specific objectives were formulated and transformed into three research questions and three corresponding hypotheses. Consequently, correlational design was adopted and two instruments titled Gamophobic Behaviour Inventory (GBI) and Psychosocial Variable Questionnaire (PVQ) which were well validated and had reliability coefficients of 0.76 and 0.86 respectively through Cronbach Alpha. The sample of the study included 522 unmarried postgraduate students carefully and purposefully identified for the study. Furthermore, in both research questions and hypotheses, predictive relationship of the variables was the focus therefore, simple regression statistic and analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with it were used to answer the research questions and test the tenability of the stated null hypotheses respectively at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study revealed that two out of the three variables significantly predicted gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers state. The variables were self-concepts (p=.000<.05) and grit (p=.025<.05). On the other hand, self-efficacy (p=.422>.05) was not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers state. Based on these findings it was recommended among others that in the area of marriage, pre-marital counselor should be made available to as many unmarried adults as possible. This is because many other things influence love, adult men and women should be taught to give attention to such factors as self-concepts, grit and the like to avoid breaking each other‘s heart culminating in nuptial-phobia or gamophobia.
Keywords: Self-concept, Self-efficacy, Grit, Gamophobia
Introduction
According to Colman (2003), phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of an object, even, activity, or situation. That is phobia is an excessive fear of something that presents little danger, but nonetheless makes you anxious. Many phobias are formed due to social interactions. They are personality and anxiety disorders. With this phobia, a person can like or love the other person, but when the other person wants something more serious or wants to commit to a relationship, then the person with gamophobia will begin regressing to negative feelings instead of positive ones.
Marriage is a serious decision for every person. It can be the stuff of nightmare for some while a fancy dream for others. So much so that we might have all come across people who say things like, “I’m not ready for marriage”, “Marriage is not for me”, “The idea of marriage scares me a lot.” All these are signs of running away from marriage or, in other words, the fear of marriage. Marriage, however, is about two people who love each other sharing the same house with the permission of society and the law to start their own nuclear family. So why are people afraid of marriage? In this study, we will expound upon the psychosocial predictors of gamophobia, known as fear of marriage, and answer the question of how to deal with the fear of marriage.
Across the world, it seems a lot of importance is attached to the institution of marriage. This is because it forms a platform for raising families and a family performs such important function as being a therapeutic setting for social support, in addition to its economic and reproductive functions (Ogunleye, 2014). As adolescents grow into adults, they tend to begin to explore various aspects of life that include dating, forming intimate relationships and thinking of marriage in the future.
According to Erikson (1982), the major task facing people at the age of marriage is dealing with the psychosocial stage of intimacy versus isolation. Researchers posit that people resolve these identity issues by marrying and rearing children or by entering relationships that allow them to develop identities based on caring for others (Montgomery, 2005). Young people at the age of marriage seem to have the developmental need for relatedness. Many young people see relationships with peers as a major source of emotional support and therefore enhance their psychological wellbeing (Kefalas et al., 2011). Falling in love, maintaining intimate relationships and eventual marriage are some of the goals young adults accomplish in their interactions with others, (Kefalas et al., (2011). They further established that today people have a greater discretion about whether to marry. They further stated that where young adults have been found to be appreciative of sexual relationships, they are non-committal about transiting these relationships into marriage.
Patterson (2008) posited that the meaning attached to marriage is influenced by different factors. Reasons why people fall in love and marry vary across cultures. Family scholars (Kefalas et al., 2011) identified a number of conditions that have reshaped young people’s notions of marriage. Some of the significant influences affecting the timing and attractiveness of marriage include schooling beyond the teen years, the liberalization of sexual behaviour, the availability of reliable methods of contraception, challenging gender roles, the threat of divorce and acceptability of remaining single (Patterson, 2008). Interestingly, despite the changing attitudes towards the institution of marriage among different societies, the proportion of young people opting for marriage is not different from what it was at the beginning of the last century (Tumuti et al., 2012).
Marriage is a revered institution and as such one should look forward to a glorious day one would enter into it so as to consummate the sacred relationship. The joy knows no bound when one courts, engages or marries a spouse who shares common affinities with one. However, due to the advancement in technology and the world gradually turning to a global village, the institution of marriage seems to be the worst hit as it is gradually witnessing a downward decline as a result of mundane issues bothering on lack of trust, infidelity, joblessness on the part of one of the spouses, career drive, irreconcilable differences, children outside wedlock, single parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, separation, divorce and eventual loss of interest in marriage.
The experiences an individual has relating to marriage, either from print or electronic media or those gathered from significant others such as siblings and one’s immediate parents go a long way in shaping the interest or aggravating the fear of marriage (gamophobia). The state of one’s economic status also occasion the fear of marriage as people look more at how to sustain the marriage than organizing the ceremony. The situation resulting in jilt, broken heart and attendant depressive situations are most of the factors responsible for anxieties, extra-carefulness and resultant gamophobia in many individuals. Therefore, victims of such unpleasant scenarios, particularly the young adults, have a higher tendency of showing aversions to relationships that could lead to marriage.
However, the Nigerian culture expects a man or woman to get married and have children or else he or she would be looked at in an unfavourable light. In today’s society there seems to be marriageable men and women who are single. Their being single is not as a result of physiological challenges but as a result of self-imposed restrictions to get married. Due to what many considered as unforeseen marital challenges beyond their control, many who had been in marriage opted out and prefer to remain single for the rest of their lives. Some young adults are single parents occasioned by pre-marital or extramarital relationships, marital violence, separation or divorce. These categories of people seem to have one story or the other to tell about marriage and their resolve not to venture into marriage as an institution.
Without marriage and the resultant procreation, the society and the attendant phenomenal demographic growth are at great risk if marriageable young adults are gamophobic. However, being gamophobic does not have consequential effect on libido. With a view to satisfying sexual curiosities among the exhibitors of gamophobia, sexual dysfunctions such as high rate of masturbation, homosexualism, lesbianism, high use of sex-toys, bestialities, pedophilia, incest, rape and other sexually related social vices creep into the society. It is therefore in recognition of these social malaises which seem to manifest in sexual dysfunctions that the Federal Government of Nigeria (2014) enacted an act prohibiting same sex marriage. Furthermore, rise in the rate of divorce, increased level of non-marital cohabitation, non-marital childbearing and relatively fewer adult years spent in marriage as a social institution are cited as evidence of the steady and seemingly decline of marriage as a social institution.
Well (2014) observed that people are getting disenchanted with marriage even when sexual relationships had been initiated thereby leaving in its trail jilt, broken heart, attendant depressive situations and the resultant fear of engaging in another such relationship that could bring about a replay of a similar devastating situation. Bisson et al. (2006) describes situational depression as a short-term form of depression that can occur in the aftermath of various traumatic changes in one’s normal life, including jilt or broken heart, divorce, retirement, loss of a job and the death of a relative or close friend. They further stated that situational depression, also known as adjustment disorder is when an individual is unable to adjust to or cope with a particular stressor, like a major life event. They also opined that people with this adjustment disorder usually experience depressive situations, such as general loss of interest, feelings of hopelessness and crying. The adjustment disorder is caused by an outside stressor and is generally resolved when the individual is able to adapt to the situation (Bisson et al., 2006). Owen and Fincham (2011) concluded that people with more psychological distress associated with failures in romantic relationships were more likely to report negative emotional reactions resulting in loss of interest in marriage. By observation, it is seen that some people have negative feelings about marriage. This negative feeing often expressed as anxiety or fear is termed Gamophobia.
Gamophobia is a strong, persistent fear of commitment or marriage, characterized by difficulty to maintain relationships, as well as psychological and physical symptoms also seen in panic attacks. To be gamophobic means one is afraid of commitment or marriage and without marriage and the resultant procreation, the society and the attendant phenomenal demographic growth are at great risk if marriageable young adults are afraid of marriage. Furthermore, people with gamophobic problems usually experience depressive situations, such as general loss of interest, feelings of hopelessness and crying. Gamophobia, may be influenced by some factors. Unfortunately, majority of these factors are psychological in nature.
Self-concept is the perceptual image about how one sees himself or herself. This implies that the general thought of an individual concerning his or her behaviour and abilities in taking a task is self-concept. One can see himself as a good person at all dealing and that is such persons‟ conception about himself. In academic environment, some students perceive themselves as dull students therefore should not be expected to perform excellent in examination. Self-concept according to Uier and Yousuf (2010) is defined as a composite image of what we think, care, what we perceive we can achieve, what we think others think of us and what we would like to be. To Liu and Wag (2012), self-concept could be well understood from the developmental point of view. Liu and Wag noted that self- concept is developed through students’ experience within the environment which could influence their behaviour, choice of peers, actions and persistence in academic task. Such environmental experience starts from birth and it’s based on how parents, adults, caregivers establish emotional bond with the child (Rebecca, 2012). Hence, would self-concept positively predict gamophobia is an issue this study hope to find out.
Self-efficacy, also called perceived ability, refers to the confidence people have in their abilities for success in a given task (Bandura, 1997). If they possess the ability to successfully perform, then that task will be attempted. The task will be avoided if it is perceived to be too difficult (Bandura, 1997). In addition, Bandura (1997) and Flammer (1990) found that individuals with high self-efficacy beliefs also report strong feelings of well-being and high self-esteem in general. It then follows that if an individual has the ability to be committed in a relationship that may lead to marriage, his/her self-efficacy may be considered high otherwise low. That is could self-efficacy be considered as one of the predictors of gamophobia is also a concern in this study.
Grit is the disposition to pursue long-term goals with sustained interest and effort over time (Duckworth et al., 2007). This psychological drive implies that some individual have their career at the centre of their life ambition, especially lifetime educational attainment. Therefore, for individuals obsessed with grit, marriage or serious commitment in a relationship may not be their long-term goal in life. And so, could grit be considered as one of the predictors of gamophobia remains one of the problems of this study. In addition and to the dismay of the researcher, the high rate of singlehood is becoming alarming in our society. Most single are afraid of entering into marriage due to heart break, jilting and other unpleasant experiences in relationship. If the desire to remain unmarried is not checked, the marriage institution may fade away in the hearts of mankind. This obviously may mean that the once revered institution would have no place in our society and the attendant consequences are better imagined than experienced.
In literature, scholars have adduced several causes of gamophobia as well as precursors of gamophobia but none has examined psychosocial factors as briefly presented in the background to this study as possible predictors of gamophobia. That is there seem to be a research gap in the relationship between psychological factors and the concept of gamophobia among postgraduate students in Nigeria hence; the problem of the study therefore, is to find out the extent to which some psychological variables would predict gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is against this background that this study was initiated to carry-out an assessment of some psycho-predictors of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers State.
Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to examine the psycho-predictors of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
The specific objectives are to:
1. Examine the extent to which self-concept predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
2. Examine the extent to which self-efficacy predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
3. Examine the extent to which grit predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
Research Questions
With a view to achieving the objectives of this study, this study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What is the extent to which self-concept predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State?
2. To what extent does self-efficacy predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State?
3. What is the extent to which grit predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State?
Hypotheses
For the purpose of this study, the following null hypotheses were tested.
1. Self-concept is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
2. Self-efficacy is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
3. Grit does not significantly predict gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
Methodology
The design adopted in this study is the correlational design, which is aimed at finding out the predictive relationship between psychosocial factors and gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers state. The population of this study comprised of an estimated 10,100 carefully identified unmarried postgraduate students of three public Universities in Rivers State. The sample of study includes 900 unmarried postgraduate students in each University contributing 300 respondents. The instruments used for data collection were two questionnaires developed by the researcher after careful study of literature materials related to the variables of interest. The two instruments were titled Gamophobic Behaviour Inventory (GBI) and Psychosocial Variable Questionnaire (PVQ). The GBI consists of two parts section A and section B. Section A of the instrument seeks information on the demographic data of the respondents. Section B consists of 20 items eliciting gamophobic behaviour on a 4point scale of CT = Completely True, MT = Mostly True, MF = Mostly False and CF = Completely False. The second instrument titled, Psychosocial Variables Questionnaires (PVQ) consisted of 40 items eliciting psychosocial variables such as; self-concept, self-efficacy and grit. These were presented in five clusters and the response options were four-point modified Liket-type scale response of Very High Extent (VHE), High Extent (HE), Very Low Extent (VLE), and Low Extent (LE). The scores for positive item statement were VHE (4 points), HE (3points), LE (2points) and VLE (1 point) while it was reversed for negatively keyed items. The instruments validated by three experts. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach Alpha method. The reliability of the Gamophobic Behaviour Inventory (GBI) was found to be 0.76 the following reliability coefficients were obtained: self-concept = 0.88, self-efficacy = 0.84 and grit = 0.89 respectively. The reliability of the entire instrument (PVQ) was however found to be 0.86. In both research questions and hypotheses, predictive relationship is being sort therefore, simple regression statistic and analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with it were used to answer the research questions and test the tenability of the stated null hypotheses respectively at 0.05 level of significance.
Results
Research Question One: What is the extent to which self-concept predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers State?
To answer this research question simple regression analysis was performed on the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concepts and those from their gamophobia responses. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of R values showing the Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concept and their gamophobia scores.
|
Model |
Simple R |
R-Square (R2) |
Adjusted R2 |
Standard Error of the Estimate |
|
Values |
.350 |
.123 |
.121 |
3.505 |
Table 1 shows an R-value of .350 and an R2-value of .123. The implication of these values is that there is positive and low predictive relationship between self-concept of unmarried postgraduate students and their gamophobia. A further analysis of Table 4.1 reveals that unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concept could account for up to 12.3 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. That is also to say that the self-concept of unmarried postgraduate students’ explains 12.3% of the variance in gamophobia.
Research Question 2: To what extent does self-efficacy predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers State?
To answer this research question, simple regression analysis was performed on the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ self-efficacy and those from their gamophobia responses obtained from the questionnaire administered. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 2.
Table 2: Summary of R values showing the Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ self-efficacy and their gamophobia scores
|
Model |
Simple R |
R-Square (R2) |
Adjusted R2 |
Standard Error of the Estimate |
|
Values |
.035 |
.001 |
-.001 |
3.740 |
In Table 2, the R-value is .035 and an R2-value of .001. The implication of this result is that, self-efficacy of unmarried postgraduate students’ is not a predictor of their gamophobia. Consequent upon this is the fact that Table 4.2 further reveals that unmarried postgraduate students’ self-efficacy could only account for 0.1 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. That is also to say that self-efficacy of unmarried postgraduate students’ explains only negligible .1% of the variance in gamophobia.
Research Question 3: What is the extent to which grit predicts gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State?
To answer this research question, simple regression analysis was performed on the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ grit and those from their gamophobia responses. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 3.
Table 3: Summary of R values showing the Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ grit and their gamophobia scores
|
Model |
Simple R |
R-Square (R2) |
Adjusted R2 |
Standard Error of the Estimate |
|
Values |
.098 |
.010 |
.008 |
3.725 |
Table 3 shows an R-value of .098 and an R2-value of .010. The inference from these R values is that there is a very low positive and predictive relationship between grit of unmarried postgraduate students and their gamophobia. A further analysis of Table 4.3 reveals that unmarried postgraduate students’ grit could account for 1.0 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. That is also to say that grit of unmarried postgraduate students’ explains 1.0% of the variance in gamophobia.
Hypothesis 1: Self-concept is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
To test this hypothesis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with the regression analysis was considered as it concerns the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concepts and those from their gamophobia responses. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 4.9.
Table 4: Summary of ANOVA analysis on the Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concept and their gamophobia scores.
|
Source of Variation (SV) |
Sum of Squares (SS) |
df |
Mean Square (MS) |
F |
Sig. |
Decision |
|
Regression |
894.709 |
1 |
894.709 |
72.816* |
.000 |
Significant |
|
Residual |
6389.360 |
520 |
12.287 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
7284.069 |
521 |
|
|
|
|
* Significant at 0.05 Level of Significance
Table 4 shows the test of significance of the predictive relationship. The test output shows an F-ratio of 72.816, which is significant at .05 probability level. To this end, the null hypothesis is rejected. The result is that, self-concept is a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
Hypothesis 2: Self-efficacy is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
To test this hypothesis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with the regression analysis was considered based on the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ self-efficacy and those from their gamophobia responses obtained from the questionnaire administered. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 4.10.
Table 5: Summary of ANOVA analysis showing the significant Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ self-efficacy and their gamophobia scores
|
Source of Variation (SV) |
Sum of Squares (SS) |
df |
Mean Sq (MS) |
F |
Sig. |
Decision |
|
Regression |
9.036 |
1 |
9.036 |
.646 |
.422 |
Not Significant |
|
Residual |
7275.033 |
520 |
13.990 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
7284.069 |
521 |
|
|
|
|
NS = Not Significant at 0.05 Level of Significance
The table shows the test of significance of this predictive relationship with an F-ratio of .646, which is not significant at .05 level of significance. Based on the F-ratio value which is not significant, the null hypothesis stated is accepted (not rejected). The result is that, Self-efficacy is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
Hypothesis 3: Grit does not significantly predict gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
To test this hypothesis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with the simple regression analysis was considered based on the scores from unmarried postgraduate students’ grit and those from their gamophobia responses. The results of the analysis are as presented on Table 5.
Table 6: Summary of ANOVA analysis on the Predictive Relationship between unmarried postgraduate students’ grit and their gamophobia scores
|
Source of Variation (SV) |
Sum of Squares (SS) |
df |
Mean Sq. (MS) |
F |
Sig. |
Decision |
|
Regression |
69.873 |
1 |
69.873 |
5.036* |
.025 |
Significant |
|
Residual |
7214.196 |
520 |
13.873 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
7284.069 |
521 |
|
|
|
|
* Significant at 0.05 Level of Significance
Table 5 shows an F-ratio of 5.036, which is significant at .05 probability level. To this end, the null hypothesis is rejected. The result is that, Grit does significantly predict gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State.
Discussion of the Findings
Self-concept and Gamophobia among unmarried Postgraduate students
The result here concerning self-concept and gamophobia revealed that self-concept is a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State. A further analysis revealed that unmarried postgraduate students’ self-concept could account for up to 12.3 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. The outcome of this finding shows that self-concept could be used to predict unmarried postgraduate students act of gamophobia. The implication of this is that what one belief about himself/herself may be responsible for his/her fear for marriage or commitment to lasting relationship. Gamophobia which is simply fear for marriage, as discovered in this study is connected to how one view himself/herself. Hence, having a positive self-concept will imply that, an individual who believe in marriage and its inherent benefits will not be afraid of getting into marriage while, a negative self-concept will imply a continuous fear of marriage. The present result is in agreement with some past research findings that worked on similar phenomenon. For example, Hawkins and Booth (2005) in a separate study but similar in variables and connotation also found out that self-concept of an individual correlate with an individual desire to be committed in a long life relationship with an opposite gender. Comparable results were found in related studies by Amato (2010), and Luciano and Orth (2017).
Self-efficacy and Gamophobia among unmarried Postgraduate students
The second concern in this study was whether self-efficacy could predict gamophobia of unmarried postgraduate students. The result here showed that self-efficacy is not a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State. Self-efficacy could only account for 0.1 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. This result is however surprising to the researcher especially, when viewed against the fact that self-efficacy is simply a measure of once ability or capacity to achieve. Hence, if an individual have high self-efficacy, the fear to be married should not necessarily be a challenge to such an individual. For self-efficacy in this study not to be a significant predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students is of great importance and so, requires further investigation. However, during the course of this investigation, the researcher could not find any work similar or dissimilar in finding to the present one. Thus, without unnecessary assumption or exaggeration in the view of the researcher, this finding is nascent in this part of the world hence, contributing to knowledge as far as the relationship between self-efficacy and gamophobia is concern.
Grit and Gamophobia among unmarried Postgraduate students
The prediction of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students was the third concern of this investigation. It was found out that grit does significantly predict gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers State. Furthermore, unmarried postgraduate students’ grit could only account for 1.0 % (R2 X 100) of unmarried postgraduate students’ gamophobia. The implication of this result is that in studying the concept of gamophobia, the psychological variable of grit should be factored into examining such concepts. However, similar to the case of self-efficacy and gamophobia, the researcher could not find any previous research work that show the prediction of gamophobia from grit, hence, presupposing that this finding is new and by that has contributed to knowledge in this area of human endeavour.
Conclusion
From the study it is concluded that self-concepts and grit are predictors of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of universities in Rivers state. on the contrary, self-efficacy is not a predictor of gamophobia among unmarried postgraduate students of Universities in Rivers state
Recommendations.
- In the area of marriage, pre-marital counselor should be made available to as many unmarried adults as possible. This is because many other things influence love, adult men and women should be taught to give attention to such factors as self-concepts, grit, masturbation, parental marital background, polygyny, character, compatibility, and the like to avoid breaking each other‘s heart culminating in nuptial-phobia or gamophobia.
- Counselling therapists can work effectively with people undergoing gamophobia particularly to help them understand marital role and expectations.
- Professionally trained counsellors can embark on “know your spouse” crusade or seminars to help marriages in the society. Marriage is so important it cannot be allowed to be deserted by adults of marriageable age, nor be allowed to be destroyed.
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