FACTORS INFLUENCING DIVORCE

FACTORS INFLUENCING DIVORCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          Marriage can be defined as a legal union between husband and wife.  It is recognized by all and publicly accepted by the society as a pre-condition for the formation of the family. According to Osuafor (1990) marriage is the approval of social pattern whereby two or more persons establish a family.  Marriage can then be said to be the process through which a social union is formed between a man and a woman or women for the purpose of procreation, which is bearing and rearing children. Leneman (1999) defines marriage as legally recognized agreement between a man and a woman making them husband and wife, the state of being married.  In most studies, it has been observed that the single most important ingredient of marriage is companion in doing things together with the husband as the most valuable aspect of marriage.  It is also noted that emotional support is an important ingredient of marriage for wives.  Both parties expect each other to encourage themselves in difficulty, sympathize with each other on failure, celebrate in success, embrace their friends and defy his enemies and to be calm when the other is angry.  Emotional security is an aspect of emotional support.

However, marriage being a union is found to be characterized by certain demands and expectations on the part of the couple.  In addition, such demands and expectations embrace issues like loyalty in marriage, faithfulness, acceptance of responsibilities, emotional security, companionship and so on.

One may observe that a marital relationship devoid of above factors often face a lot of problems and generate a lot of stains like marital discord, lack of emotional closeness to ones partner, psychological separation, lack of mutual understanding, role conflict, financial conflict, lack of effective communication, sexual conflict and unhappiness which obviously can lead to divorce.

Divorce also known as dissolution of marriage or the end of a marriage before the death of either spouse has been an issue on ground now both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. South and Lioyd (1995) posited that divorce is the legal abrogation of a valid marriage contract.  It does not only end the right of the couple to cohabit and limits the legal abrogation of the husband but also permits remarriage.

The world Book encyclopedia (1972) defined divorce as the ending by law of a valid marriage.  It is usually distinguished from an annulment, which is a declaration by a court that marriage is invalid (not legally binding) because of some defect at the time of marriage ceremony.

Divorce is a severe family disorganization and a common topic of gossip in out society.  This is due to the fact that divorcees are regarded by the society as the worst people in morals, deviants and insatiable elements.  A divorced woman is regarded as being of such bad character that a man cannot think of remarrying her within a short space of time in the same community.  It is the belief of most people that once the first marriage fails, it is never easy to be successful with other subsequent marriages. Divorce has been shown to have some socio-psychological after effects on both partners and their children.  For instance lack of parental role model (Goode, 1975) or even emotional anxiety and negative attitude towards life.

Based on the above overview, one may observe that divorce as a socio-psychological problem is quite common in most societies and cultures.  Hence the researcher intends to investigate on the factors influencing divorce as regard to couples and their children.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The aims of this study are as follows:

To examine whether marital infidelity influence divorce among couple.

To examine whether income influence divorce among couple.

To examine whether polygamy influence divorce among couple.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

Within few years, I noticed consistent in marital violence cum, divorce. For instance in my kindred, four men out of fifteen who married between 2003- 2009 were no longer living together. A condition that is becoming uncommon to our society. Knowing fully that majority of them took marital vow of  “for better for worse” on the altar, I begin to wonder why they are finding it difficult to maintain that promise. To tackle an issue, one needs to know its causes. Therefore they find it difficult to understand the factors that could be responsible for this undesirable element “divorce” with a view to solving them.

However, to find solution to this problem, the following problems will be addressed in this study.

Will there be significant influence of marital infidelity as a factor in divorce?

Will there be a significant influence of income as a factor in divorce?

Will there be a significant influence of polygamy as a factor in divorce?

DEFINITION OF TERMS

INFLUENCE:  According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it is the effect that somebody or something has no the way a person thinks or behaves or on the way that something works or develops.

DIVORCE: This is the dissolution of a valid marriage or the ending of a valid marriage before the death of either spouse.

METROPOLIS: This is the city or capital.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

THEORETICAL REVIEW

THEORIES OF CONFLICT

Theories have been posited to account for conflict in social interaction mostly in marital relationship.  Some of which include conflict spiral model, structural change model, aggressor-defender model, and exchange equity equality theory.

CONFLICT-SPIRAL MODEL

This theory posits that conflicts bring conflicts in social interaction mostly in marital relationship.  Each partner will be trying to react in a defensive manner to the other partner’s behaviour.  As a consequence there is spiral conflict, which unfolds that drops on both parties.  In this theory, instead of focusing on the “first cause” as in aggressor model, it describes the changing nature of spiral hostilities continuing going upwards.

According to this theory, failure to recognize that is hot in all cases that action result in reaction, it has given a profitable account of violence that often accompanying conflict especially if there is no third party intervention and the situation remains conclusive for the conflict to keep going on.

STRUCTURAL CHANGE MODEL

The structural change model posits that the dynamic nature in human society is inevitable and it is this dynamic nature that brings conflict.  The changes can occur in social setting, people’s beliefs, goals, values, attitudes and perceptions.  This theory also because of the changes bring development and industrialization in the family structure and society and the role it played in interpersonal transactions are expectations.  In this theory, it is not all the time that the changes will bring development and growth rather conflict may result in marriage partner not all conflict accompanying changes, some of the conflict may continue to lead to another conflict, which resulted into divorce, child’s delinquency, truancy and socially undesirable behaviours.

AGGRESSOR-DEFENDER MODEL

This theory posits that when there is conflict in a material relationship, one person perceives the other as an aggressor and depending on this or her biases, aggressor is seen as motivated by ignoble, evil and illegitimate aims while the defender (e.g. partner) is moved by noble morally correct and legitimate aims.  This follows that the defender must increase the deterrent power to ensure that peace prevails.  For example, a man may tell his wife not to visit her parents that particular day the woman said that she wants to visit her parents.  The woman may see the husband as being developing hatred to the In-laws but what the man did is just to exercise autocracy as the head of the family.  This is the typical marital relationship conflict.  The woman may stick to her own thought thereby visiting her parents without regarding the “talk of the husband” which proves that the man will not be hindrance to her own personal opinion and conflict will occur.  And the blame will now be on the partner conceived to be aggressive.  So in marital relationship, one partner should be perceived as initiating conflict if the other partner is interfering with the spouse’s goals and values.

EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Several studies have been done on the factors that influence divorce.

Divorce as a social psychological problem is quite common in most societies.  Even before the decision of divorce arises, there are a number of factors, which can influence people or a couple towards a divorce.  The quality and amount of time involved in a couples premarital relationship can be a good indicator of later causes of divorce.  Problems that develop before marriage do not disappear and often lead to the causes of divorce down the road.  These problems can often even amplify themselves during a marriage.  Interestingly, statistics show that couples who cohabitates before marriage has a higher chance of divorce.  This may be a direct result of a couple’s more relaxed approach to marriage after cohabitation or pressure to marry after cohabitation.  On the other hand, it has been argued that there is a substantial benefit to cohabitation before marriage in that a couple is able to familiarize themselves to the customs and habits of one another.

FACTORS INFLUENCING DIVORCE

Poverty according to Haralambos, (1980), can cause divorce.  He went further to explain that there is a relationship between income and divorce.  Low income place strain on marriage especially on the husband who failed to live up to his role as a father, and as a bread-winner.

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

1.       Social Integration:  Social integration is the degree of interaction between individuals and the larger community is emerging as an important factor related to the incidence of divorce.  In addition, the rates of divorce increases from east to west.  The highest rate is found in California, where two divorces currently occur for every three marriages.  The greater likelihood of divorce in the west and Southwest may be caused by the higher rate of residential mobility and lower levels of social integration with extended families, ethnic neighborhoods and church groups (Robert, 1991).

2.       Socio-economic Status:  This is probably the most important correlate of divorce.  Overall, the higher the socio-economic status comprised of employment status, income and education (which tend to be interrelated).  The lower the likelihood of divorce (Otite and Ogiowo, 1999).

3.       Employment Status:  Among whites, a higher divorce rate is more characteristics of law status occupations, such as factory worker, than of higher status occupations such as executive.  Unemployment which contributes to marital stress, is also related to increased divorce rates.  Conflicts arises as to whether employed wives are more likely than non-employed wives to divorce.  Overall, thought the findings seem to suggest that female employment contributes to the likelihood of divorce, because the employed wife is less dependent on her husband’s earnings (Witte and John, 1997).  Wives employment may lead to conflict about the traditional division of household labour, child-care stress and other work spill over problems that in turn, create marital distress.

4.       Income:  The higher the family income, the lower the divorce rate for both whites and African Americans.  The higher a woman’s individual income, the greater her changes of divorce, perhaps because with greater incomes, women are not economically dependent on their husbands or because conflict over inequitable work and family role increases marital tension (Haralambos, 1990).

5.       Education Level:  For whites, the higher the education level the lower the divorce rate.  Divorce rates among African Americans are not as strongly affected by educational levels.  Education level has been deemed as a strongest effect on divorce rates.  Statistics have shown that women who have gone on a graduate school have a greater likelihood of divorce than some less educated women.  This is mainly because women who went to graduate school mostly go into the work-force and they can stand on their own and do not need to rely on their husband’s finance.

6.       Ethnicity: African Americans are more likely than whites to divorce.  The relation between ethnicity and divorce is not surprising because of the strong correlation between socio-economic status and divorce, the lower the socio-economic status and divorce, the lower the socio-economic class, the more likely a person is to divorce (Pett, 2002).

7.       Religion: Frequency of attendance of religious services (not necessarily the depth of beliefs) tends to be associated with the divorce rate (White and John, 1997).  Among white males, the rate of divorce for those who never attend religious services is three times as high as for those who attend two or three times a month.

          John (1992) observed that when husband and wife belong to the same religious faith that the rate of divorce is lower than if they belong to different religious faith.  He maintained that divorce among Catholics is lower than compared with that of the Protestant and Baptist churches.

LIFE COURSE FACTORS

Intergenerational Transmission: Both African American and white have a slightly increased likelihood of divorce if their families of origin were disrupted by divorce or desertion.  All in all, coming from a divorced family appears to have relatively little effect on adult children’s divorcing.  People whose parents are divorced are twice as likely to divorce their own spouses.  Experts have concluded that failure of a person’s parental marriage can lead to the causes of divorce because these individuals have seen an example of marriage, which ultimately ended in divorce.  Leadership by example seems to be a pretty powerful imprint on the human psych (Pett, 2002).

Age at Time of Marriage:  John (1992) posited that age at first marriage is also a well documented predictor of divorce.  Those married before age twenty have greatly high divorce rate than those who marry later.  The divorce rate declines with age at first marriage until about twenty six for men and twenty three for women.  Beyond that point, age does not seem to matter much.  Exactly why age marriage matters is not known but there are two possibilities that immediately arise.  Young people are (on the average) worst at being spouses than older people.

Premarital Pregnancy and Childbirth:  Premarital pregnancy by itself does not significantly increase the likelihood of divorce.  But if the pregnant woman is an adolescent, drops out of high school and faces economic problems following marriage, the divorce rate increases dramatically.  If a woman gives birth prior to marriage, the likelihood for divorce in subsequent marriages increases, especially in the early years.  This negative effect on marriage is stronger for whites than for African Americans (South and Lioyd, 1995).

Remarriage:  The divorce rate among those who married in the 1980’s is so far about 25 percent higher than those who entered first marriage in that decade (Wineberg, 1994).  It is not clear why there is a higher divorce rate in remarriages.  Some researchers suggest that the cause may lie in a “kinds of people” explanation.  The probability factors associated with the kinds of people who divorced in first marriages – low levels of education, unwillingness to settle for unsatisfactory marriages and membership in certain ethnic groups are present in subsequent marriages which increase the likelihood of divorce (Yuan and Mitchel, 2000).  Others argue that the dynamics of second marriages, especially the presence of step children increase the chances of divorce (Robert, 1991).

FAMILY PROCESSES

          The actual day-to-day marital processes of communication-handling conflict, showing affection and other marital interactions may be the most important factors holding marriages together or dissolving them (Ventura, 1995).

Marital Happiness: Although it seems reasonable that there would be a strong link between marital happiness or, rather, the lack of marital happiness and divorce.  This is true only during the earliest years of marriage.  Those who have low marital happiness scores in the first year of marriage are four or five times more likely to divorce within three years than those with high marital happiness (Rosenblatt and Paul, 2006).  In fact, alternatives to one’s marriage and barriers to divorce appear to influence decisions more strongly than does marital happiness.

Children: It is not clear what relation, if any children have to the likelihood of divorce (Haralambo, 1990).  Children were once considered a deterrent to divorce.  People stayed together for the sake of the children but 60 percent of all divorces now take place among couples who have children.  The birth of the first child reduces the chance of divorce to almost nil in the year following birth.  This preventive effect does not hold true, however, for subsequent births (Diouf and Nafi, 2004).  Parents of sons are less likely to divorce than parents of daughters.  The research suggests that daughters participated more in the parenting of sons than daughters, thereby creating greater family involvement for the man (Diouf and Nafi, 2004).  In some instances, the presence of children may be related to higher divorce rates.  Premarital conceived (during adolescence) children and physically or mentally limited children in general contribute to marital dissatisfaction and possibly divorce.

Changed Nature of the Family:  The shift from an agricultural society to an industrial one undermined many of the family’s traditional functions.  Schools, the media, and peers are now important sources of child socialization and child care.  Hospitals and nursing homes manage birth and care for the sick and aged.  Due to this fact, that the family pays cash for goods and services rather than producing or providing them itself, its members are no longer interdependent.  As a result of losing many of its social and economic underpinnings, the family is not a necessity.  It is now simply one of the many choices we have.

Marital Problems: If you ask divorced people to give the reasons for their divorce, they are not likely to say “I blame the changing nature of the family” or “it was demographics”.  Personal characteristics leading to conflicts are obviously very important factors in the dissolution of relationships.  Studies of divorced men and women cite such problems as alcoholism, drug abuse, marital infidelity, sexual incompatibility and conflicts about gender roles as leading to their divorces.  Ventura, 1995 found that the four most common reasons given were in descending order of frequency, personal problems, home life, authoritarianism and differing values.  Extramarital affairs ranked seventh.  Complaints associated with gender roles accounted for 35 percent of the men’s responses and 41 percent of the women’s responses.  But because studies included only divorced respondents, it is difficult to tell whether the presence of these factors can predict divorce.  We know from studying enduring marriages than marriages often continue in the face of such problems.

Muslim Marriage Customs and Laws: The joutuk or dowry plays a key role in arrangement of marriage on Bangladesh.  The dowry is an arrangement between the bride’s and groom’s family whereby the bride’s family agrees to pay certain amount of money and/or goods in kind to the groom’s family (Pett. 2002).  Though the practice if illegal under Muslim and state law, it is widespread in Bangladesh.  The practice has consequences for the risk of divorce (Pett. 2002).

          Marriages as well as divorces can be registered with the government through the civil registration system but most of those events are not registered.  In cases where they are not, they are enacted through marriage ceremonies following existing religious and social customs and procedures.

Marital Infidelity: Infidelity is a breach of good faith that applies in a number of contexts.  In the context involving a close relationship, infidelity is referred to as cheating which is any violation of the mutually agreed upon rules or boundaries of a relationship.  It does not require sexual behaviour to qualify as infidelity.  The definition of what constitutes infidelity varies between and within cultures.  Another term for marital infidelity is adultery.  The facts about marital infidelity (sexual unfaithfulness to a spouse) are outstanding.  Polls show that although 905 of marital people disapprove of extramarital relationships, statistics from a national survey indicates that 15% of wives and 35% of husbands have experienced extramarital sexual affairs.  These numbers increase by 20% when emotional affairs and sexual relationships without intercourse are included.  So studies have shown that marital infidelity (sexual unfaithfulness to a spouse) can influence divorce among couples.

Polygamy:  Polygamy is characteristic for Teknaf.  It increases the possibilities of marriage and remarriages for women.  It reflects a grooms’ personal taste.  Polygamy marriages are likely to be less stable than monogamous marriages.  For several reasons competition between co-wives for husband’s love and affection may raise tensions leading to quarrels at home.  A polygamous man, on the other hand, may view wives more as bed-partners than life partners.  If this is the case, keeping the marriage intact may be less important to him (Wallerstein and Kurdek, 1989).  This kind of view weakens the bonds of marriage and marriage and divorce are reduced to mere formalities leading to high probabilities of remarriage and divorce.

          Divorce when instituted, however has much effect on the family both on the children and on the couple.

EFFECTS OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN

          Pett (2002) noted that divorce among other factors are deviant behavious such as juvenile delinquency, alcoholism, prostitution, dropping out from school, drug addiction.  This is because when the family life is unsatisfactory, the children often develop personality difficulties and behavioural pattern due to poor socialization, hence turn to delinquent acts to cope with their defects.

          Heitherigton, (1987) posited that boys are affected by divorce both right after it occurs and later on.  Although two years after the divorce, their adjustment noticeably improves, they still have more problems getting along with others at home and at school.  If custody is given to the mother, they boy may loose a male model.  Boys are always treated negatively by their mothers than girls after the divorce.

          Wallerstein and Kurdek (1984) posited that for children below the age of six the initial trauma seems to be especially severe because they do not understand it and cannot derive support from others.  In the first year of divorce, the mother who is the usual remaining parent is likely to become depressed, self-involved, unpredictable in behaviour and less effective in dealing with children, especially sons.  Divorced adults have more health and emotional problems.

EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON COUPLES

          South and Lioyd (1995) said that divorced persons show a consistently higher rate of drinking problems and other signs of maladjustment (as well as a higher rate of actual hospitalization for mental disorders) than do non-divorced persons.  The divorced person is likely to face difficult adjustments brought about by the changes in life situation.  He may have to cope with loss of security, guilt and self-recrimination, the cessation or disruptions of sexual satisfaction and financial problems, feelings of alienation and loneliness may add to the stress and where the divorce was sought by the other person, a sense of having been rejected usually leads to feeling of hurt and self devaluation.

          Heitherington (1987) in his study one effect of divorce on both men and women, found that they experience similar patterns of personal and emotional problems but the symptoms are initially more severe in men.  During the first year following divorce, both the man and the woman report low self-esteem, confusion concerning social and sexual roles and feeling of anger, anxiety, ambivalence and depression.  In another work, Heitherington (1987) said that men report lack of both structure and coherent personal identity and feeling of ruthlessness, guilt and loss.  Women report feelings of being unattractive, helpless, personal and social incompetence.

          Osuafor (1990) postulated that good marital satisfaction is a key to good health and longevity.  Also, that divorce has the secondary effect of producing anxiety and depression in both couple.  The symptoms of anxiety include tension, sleeplessness and excessive sweating.

SUMMARY OF REVIEW

From the literature reviewed, structural therapy and Aggressor defender theory tend to be closer to divorce. While Structural theory is able to observe that human beings are made of different structure or say personality. This complexity is enough to generate misunderstanding which eventually leads to conflict. Aggressor defender theory also posits that conflict can result in a bid to defend our aggressive behaviour.

However, none of the theories was able to observe situational factor in absence of factors in these two theories, conflict may result from situational circumstance. Therefore the present study will look at other factors such as poverty, marital infidelity etc as factors in divorce.

HYPOTHESES

          The following hypotheses were tested:

There will be no significant influence of marital infidelity as a factor in divorce.

There will be no significant influence of income as a factor in divorce.

There will be no significant influence of polygamy as a factor in divorce.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

PARTICIPANTS

          A total of 100 participants comprising 50 males and 50 females were used for the study.  The participants were selected by using simple random sample technique.  The participants were selected from civil servants in Enugu South.  The participants had a minimum educational qualification of N.C.E and their age range was between 23 and 54.

INSTRUMENT

          A 10-item questionnaire designed to identify the factor influencing divorce among married couple was used.  The items were prepared by the researchers.  The questionnaire has dichotomous response format of Yes and No.

          The items were validated on a facial base. Three lecturers selected from the department of psychology who served as expert judges were used. The items were validated on a facial base surface based on the 2/3 agreement of the ratings of the judges. Therefore any item rejected or accepted by 2/3 the judges is rejected or accepted respectively.

In addition, a pilot study was carried out, 15 married couples selected from Enugu North were used. Data obtained yielded a split-half reliability co-efficient of 0.45. The calculated value was compared with the r-critical value of 0.36 at P<.05 which yielded a significant outcome.

PROCEDURE

          A total of 120 copies of the questionnaire were distributed within a period of three weeks to select participants for this study. The researcher approached the participants in their houses and offices. Simple random sampling was used to select houses and offices used for the study.

However, the researcher approached the participants, introduced himself and his purpose. After which, rapport and confidentiality were generated and questionnaire administered.

With this exercise, out of the 120 copies that were administered, only 100 copies were correctly filled and returned were used for data analysis.

DESIGN/STATISTICS

          A survey research design was adopted and the sample selected from the targeted population was given copies of the questionnaire to measure their response.

          Chi-square was used to analyze the data to test the observed and expected differences of factors influencing divorce.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

TABLE 1.

Summary table of chi-square on the difference between observed and expected frequencies on marital infidelity as a factor.

ITEM I:  Problems imposed by marital infidelity among couples can lead to divorce.

Responses		DF	X2	P
Yes	No
97	3	1	88.36	<.001

          From the table one above chi-square calculated value of 88.36 is greater than chi critical value of 10.83 at p less than <.001 indicating a significant outcome.

          Hence hypothesis one which stated that “There will be no significant influence of marital infidelity as a factor in divorce” is hereby rejected.  This means that marital infidelity play a remarkable role as a factor in divorce.

TABLE II:

Summary table of chi-square on the difference between observed and expected frequencies on family income as a factor.

ITEM II

Quarrels over the amount of family income can influence divorce among couple.

Responses		DF	X2	P
Yes	No
98	2	1	92.16	<.001

          From the table two above chi calculated value of 92.16 is greater than chi critical value of 10.83 at p less than <.001 indicating a significant outcome.

          Hence hypothesis two which stated that “There will be a significant influence of income as a factor in divorce” is hereby rejected.  This means that income play a remarkable role as a factor in divorce.

TABLE III

Summary table of chi-square on the difference between observed and expected frequencies on the marriage of many wives as a factor.

ITEM 3

Quarrels arising from the marriage of many wives by a man (Polygamy) can influence divorce.

Responses		DF	X2	P
Yes	No
98	2	1	92.16	<.001

          From the table three above chi calculated value of 92.16 is greater than the chi critical value of 10.83 at p less <.001 indicating a significant outcome.

          Hence hypothesis three which stated that “There will be no significant influence of polygamy as a factor in divorce” is hereby rejected.  This means that polygamy play a remarkable role as a factor in divorce.

S/NO	ITEM	X2	P
(2)	Misunderstanding between a young partner and an old partner over cultural norms can influence divorce	84.64	<.001
(3)	Where there is lack of understanding and love among couples can easily influence divorce	77.44	<.001
(4)	Misunderstanding based on different religious practices or belief held by each couple can easily influence divorce	12.96	<.001
(7)	Age at the time of marriage, most especially where the husband is much older than the wife can influence divorce	81	<.001
(8)	Quarrels arising from inability of the couple to produce children can influence divorce	70.56	<.001
(9)	Differences in knowledge based on level of education can influence divorce	81	<.001
(10)	Lack of paid employment of one partner in a marriage as a factor influences divorce	5.76	<.001

The calculated chi value is greater than the critical value of 10.3 showing that all the factors play remarkable role to divorce.

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION

The findings of this study revealed that the first hypothesis tested which stated that “There will be no significant influence of marital infidelity as a factor in divorce” was not accepted.  This means that marital infidelity was found to yield a significant outcome, indicating that marital infidelity plays a remarkable role in divorce among couple.

This finding is in line with the views of Otite and Ogiowo (1979), where they postulated that some causes of divorce ranges from childlessness, cruelty, undue interference from mother In-law, marital infidelity and poverty.  They also asserted that sexual deprivation is among the factors that can influence divorce.  From all these investigations, one may observe that marital infidelity is an important factor in divorce.

The second hypothesis tested in this study, which stated that “There will be no significant influence of income as a factor in divorce”, is also rejected.  This mans that income was found to yield a significant outcome, indicating that income play a remarkable role in divorce among couple.

This is also in line with the views of (Haralambos, 1990) who posited that the higher a woman’s individual income, the greater here chances of divorce, perhaps because with greater income, women are not economically dependent on their husbands because conflict over inequitable work and family role increases marital tension.

He further posited that low income places strain on marriage especially on the husband who failed to live up to his role as a father, husband and a breadwinner (Haralambos, 1980).

From these investigations, one may also observe that income is a very important factor in divorce.

The third hypothesis which stated that “There will be no significant influence of polygamy as a factor in divorce”, is rejected.  This also means that polygamy was found to yield significant outcome indicating that polygamy play a remarkable role in divorce.

This third hypothesis is supported by Wallerstein and Kurdek (1989).  They posited that a polygamous man on the other hand, may view wives as bed-partners than life partners, and if this is the case, keeping the marriage intact may be less important to him.

However, from these investigations, one can observe that polygamy play a remarkable role in divorce.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study have shown that marital infidelity, income and polygamy are the major causes of divorce.

So from the findings, it is obvious that when marital infidelity, quarrels over income, polygamy and other numerous factors are present in a marriage, that divorce becomes inevitable.

          In addition, the study will be an eye opener to married couples, marriage counselors, and religious leaders on factors that promote divorce. It will also serve as an empirical work for similar study. Above all, with the findings of this study, married couples having known what could cause divorce will desist from them now they are aware of it.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Major constraint of this study was finance. Due to lack of money, only few samples were used. In addition, the study fails to use a true sample Enugu South due to time factor and other constraints.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Further researchers should look at other factors that can cause divorce such as personality factors, hereditary factors and so on. In addition to that, they should increase their sample to have a full representation of the population.

Furthermore, experts should also look at ways to curb high rate of divorce in our society today by working with these factors that have been revealed ad mediators.

SUMMARY

          The findings of this study are summarized thus:

v    A significant influence of marital infidelity among couple as a factor in divorce was observed.

v    A significant influence of income as a factor in divorce among couple was observed.

v    A significant influence of polygamy as a factor in divorce among couple was also observed.

CONCLUSION

          Based on the findings of this study, the researcher hereby concludes that divorce can be influenced by marital infidelity, income and polygamy.

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                                                Department of Psychology

                                                Faculty of Management and Social Sciences

                                                Caritas University

                                                Amorji-Nike, Enugu

                                                Enugu State.

Dear Respondent,

QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE STUDY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING DIVORCE

          I am a final year student from the above named institution, undertaking a research work on the Study of Factors Influencing Divorce.  Kindly give your maximum co-operation by filling this questionnaire.  Your honest answer will be highly appreciated.

          Thanks for your co-operation.

                                                                   Yours sincerely,

                                                                   Ohiri Uchenna .F.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Age:…………………………………………………………………………….

How many children do you have?.......................................................................

What is your occupation?....................................................................................

Have you heard about divorce?        Yes…………………      No…………………

Tick Yes  =  Agree                            No     =       Disagree

S/NO	ITEMS	YES	NO
1.	Quarrels over the amount of family income can influence divorce among couple
2.	Misunderstanding between a young partner and an old partner over cultural norms can influence divorce
3.	Where there is lack of understanding and love among couples can easily influence divorce
4.	Misunderstanding based on different religious practices or beliefs held by each couple can easily influence divorce.
5.	Quarrels arising from the marriage of many wives by a man (polygamy) can influence divorce
6.	Problems imposed by marital infidelity among couples can lead to divorce
7.	Age at the time of marriage, most especially where the husband is much older than the wife can influence divorce
8.	Quarrels arising from inability of the couple to produce children can influence divorce
9.	Differences in knowledge based on level of education can influence divorce
10.	Lack of paid employment of one partner in marriage as a factor, influences divorce

APPENDIX B

ITEM 1: 

Quarrels over the amount of family income can influence divorce among couple.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	98	50	+48	2304	46.08	92.16	<.001
NO	2	50	-48	2304	46.08

ITEM II:

Misunderstanding between a young partner and an old partner over cultural norms can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	98	50	+46	2116	42.32	84.64	<.001
NO	4	50	-46	2116	42.32

ITEM III:

Where there is lack of understanding and love among couples, poverty can easily influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	94	50	+44	1936	38.72	77.44	<.001
NO	6	50	-44	1936	38.72

ITEM IV:

Misunderstanding based on different religious practices or beliefs held by each couple can easily influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	68	50	+18	324	6.48	12.96	<.001
NO	32	50	-18	324	6.48

ITEM V:

Quarrels arising from the marriage of many wives (polygamy) can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	98	50	+48	2304	46.08	92.16	<.001
NO	2	50	-48	2304	46.08

ITEM VI:

Problems imposed by marital infidelity among couples can lead to divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	97	50	+47	2209	44.18	88.36	<.001
NO	3	50	-47	2209	44.18

ITEM VII:

Age at the time of marriage most especially when the husband is much older than the wife can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	95	50	+45	2025	40.5	81	<.001
NO	5	50	-45	2025	40.5

ITEM VIII:

Quarrels arising from inability of the couple to produce children can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	92	50	+42	1764	35.28	70.56	<.001
NO	8	50	-42	1764	35.28

ITEM IX:

Differences in knowledge based on education can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	95	50	+45	2025	40.5	81	<.001
NO	5	50	-45	2025	40.5

ITEM X:

Lack of paid employment of one partner in marriage as a factor can influence divorce.

X	O	E	O-E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2    E	X2	P
YES	62	50	+12	144	2.88	5.76	<.001
NO	38	50	-12	144	2.88