SOCIAL PHOBIA AND GENDER AS CORRELATES OF MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG MARRIED PERSONS IN AWKA METROPOLIS, ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study examined Social Phobia and Gender as Correlates of Marital Satisfaction among Married Persons in Awka Metropolis, Anambra State. A total of three hundred (300) participants were sampled for the study. The participants consisted of married persons residing in Awka Metropolis and were selected using a convenience sampling technique. Their ages ranged from 20 to 60 years, with a mean age of 37.5 and a standard deviation of 0.214. Two instruments were used for the study, namely the Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS) developed by Hudson (1982) and the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) developed by Connor et al. (2000). The study adopted a survey research design with a cross-sectional approach, and Pearson product–moment correlation was used to test the hypotheses. Two hypotheses were postulated for the study. The first hypothesis, which stated that social phobia would significantly correlate with marital satisfaction, was rejected (r = 0.051, p > .05). The second hypothesis, which stated that gender would significantly correlate with marital satisfaction, was also rejected (r = −0.101, p > .05). Based on the findings of this study, the researchers recommend that clinical psychologists, marriage counsellors, and therapists should be cautious in addressing the behavioural dynamics of social phobia and gender in marital satisfaction among married persons.