COMMUNICATION AS CORRELATES OF MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG COUPLES IN OYO STATE: IMPLICATION FOR COUNSELLING PRACTICE

Abstract

The study investigated communication as correlates of marital satisfaction among couples in
Oyo State. The correlation method of the descriptive survey research design was adopted for this
study The questionnaire titled Communication and Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSMQ)
was adapted from Oyedeji (1993) and this was used to gather information from the respondents.
The Validity of the questionnaire was established by experts in the Department of counsellor,
University of Ilorin. A reliability co-efficient of 0.81 was obtained. The correspondent's
hypotheses were tested using Person Product Correlation, the independent t-test and the
ANOVA. The results of the study showed that the common spousal communication styles among
married adults in Oyo State was passive style (Mean 3.17). The finding also revealed that there
was a significant difference in the spousal communication style and marital satisfaction
(00.0>0.05), however no difference was found on the basis of gender, religion and length of
years in marriage. In conclusion, all the hypotheses were accepted, only hypothesis one was
rejected. It was recommended that counsellors and religious organization should not relent in
their effort on communication style training that can enhance marital satisfaction.