CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Culture is generally described and accepted as people’s way of life, which among other things includes their marital lives. The inspiration of every matured man or woman is to have a stable and happy marital life, be compatible in love, values, academic, economic and of course be socially alright. This in line with the postulation of Onyema (1994), that marriage is a social institution for the union of body and soul.

However, stability in marriage may at times be influenced by certain socio-cultural variables. The influence of the variables may be negative resulting to insecurity and unhappiness in marriage or may be positive resulting to a stable and happy union. These variables range from cultural diversity (in case of interethnic marriage), to educational, social, economic and even religious background.

Even age difference is inclusive in these variables. For instance, a lady once confessed that she can never marry an illiterate no matter how rich he may be, because, one day, he might ignorantly use his certificate as a toilet tissue. The implication of this open confession is incompatibility and social inequality in education which are factors that may influence marital stability. The current instability in some marriages in our society today tend to be the resultant influence of social, economic and cultural changes in people’s pattern of living. These changes, according to Amaonye, (1996), have occurred and has continued to occur so rapidly that they are not yet absorbed into our ways of living.

Furthermore, compatibility in social lives of couples a strong factor for marital stability and survival. When the social lives of couples are at variance, it may likely portend great threat to marital stability, because it takes time to come to terms with why some social outings and involvement are necessary. However, the realization of the salient influence of these socio cultural variables on marriage may likely be positive moment towards marriage stability in our society today.

Statement of the Problem

The wish of every couple is to spend their life time together and, joyfully till death part them. However, this is not usually the case all the time because at a particular period in their lives, frictions do arise which lead to a near or total collapse of the marriage. And this is one of the inevitable challenges that accompany marriages.

Socio-cultural factors such as religions, age, socio-economic status, social class, educational background, personality, traditional values etc influence the marital stability of marriage among couples. And the  factors are very important variables in marital stability which are seldom recognized by many couples, no wonder there are breakages in many homes as a result of no love, lack of understanding, lack of compatibility, disparity in age, in education, religion and social classes.

Many, for instance, have failed to realize that when couples are of diverse culture (inter-ethnic marriage), there is need to respect each other’s culture since this translates to respecting the person you married and subsequent marital stability. These days marriages fail due to lack of tolerance, lack of mutual trust, lack of patience, non-child bearing, no effective communication, lack of good marital altitudes, similarities between couples, lack of maturity and poor socio-economic status.

Finally, when couples are not from same socio-cultural background, and do not have the same value system and norms, they tend to vary in understanding of themselves and lack of understanding no doubt, creates conflict, and instability in marital union.