Psychological and Demographic Factors as Predictors of Marital Harmony among Secondary School Teachers in Oyo State, Nigeria
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Date
2025-12
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Lead City University, Ibadan
Abstract
Marriages in contemporary society face increasing challenges, often shaped by the diverse backgrounds of partners. Although previous studies have examined general determinants of marital satisfaction among teachers, limited attention has been given to the combined influence of psychological and demographic factors on marital harmony within the profession. This study therefore investigated the predictive roles of psychological and demographic variables in marital harmony among secondary school teachers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Anchored on five key theoretical frameworks – Attachment, Family Systems, Communication, Self-determination and Psychological Well-being theories, the study adopted a descriptive survey design. A stratified and simple random sampling of 966 married male and female teachers provided a balanced
sample. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire, “Psychological Demographic Marital Harmony Questionnaire (PDMHQ)’’ measuring marital communication, anxiety, emotional intelligence, dual-earner profile, educational qualification, age, and marital harmony with r value of 0.75 at 0.05 level of significance. Analyses were conducted using Pearson’ Product-Moment Correlation, Multiple Regression, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Findings from the 944 retrieved data revealed that anxiety has a strong and significant positive influence on marital harmony, as indicated by a standardised coefficient of β = 0.674 (p < .001). This suggests that as teachers experience higher levels of anxiety, their marital harmony tends to improve. Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, was found to have a significant but negative
effect on marital harmony (β = -0.098, p < .001). This implies that teachers with higher emotional intelligence may also possess heightened awareness of marital challenges, which could amplify their perception of disharmony. Marital communication emerged as another strong predictor, showing a positive and significant relationship with marital harmony (β = 0.420, p< .001). Effective communication allows couples to express their emotions, resolve conflictsamicably, and maintain intimacy, all of which are critical components of harmony in marriage. This means that psychological predictors, communication, emotional intelligence and in particular anxiety against previously established literature, accounted for a significant proportionof the variance in marital harmony (R² = 0.345, F(3,596) = 105.67, p < 0.05). Demographic
predictors also made a meaningful contribution (R² = 0.274, F(3,596) = 74.53, p < 0.05), with educational qualification and dual-earner couple structure positively contributed, whereas age showed a modest but significant influence. When psychological and demographic factors were combined, the results demonstrated a stronger predictive power on marital harmony (R² = 0.417, F(6,593) = 70.28, p < 0.05). The study concludes that both psychological competencies and demographic contexts play significant roles in shaping marital harmony among married teachers. It recommends conducive workplace policies, premarital education, and counselling interventions aimed at strengthening emotional intelligence, anxiety management and communication skills, while addressing the specific challenges of dual-earner couples.
Key Words: Marital Harmony, Emotional Intelligence, Marital Communication, Anxiety, Psychological and Demographic Factors, Secondary School Teachers
Word Count: 444
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Keywords
Marital Harmony, Emotional Intelligence, Marital Communication, Anxiety, Psychological and Demographic Factors, Secondary School Teachers
Citation
kate Turabian