ATTITUDE OF MOTHER-IN-LAW TOWARDS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AS A DETERMINANT FACTOR IN MARITAL STABILITY IN SOME SELECTED FAMILIES

ATTITUDE OF MOTHER-IN-LAW TOWARDS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AS A DETERMINANT FACTOR IN MARITAL STABILITY IN SOME SELECTED FAMILIES

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of communication on attitude towards mother-in-law among female married adults in Lagos Metropolis.

In carrying out the study, four null hypotheses were postulated to provide direction. The study consisted of one hundred randomly selected samples. The instrument used for data collection was a self-designed questionnaire by the researcher of a 4 point Likert format. Both one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Independent t-test Statistical Techniques were used for data analysis. The results of the analysis showed that:

1.     Communication style does not have a significant influence on the attitude of daughter-in-law towards their mother-in-law.

2.     Cultural background does not have a significant influence on the attitude of daughter-in-law towards their mother-in-law.

3.     Educational background does not have a significant influence on the attitude of daughter-in-law towards their mother-in-law.

4.     Ethnic background has a significant influence on the attitude of daughter-in-law towards their mother-in-law.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Marriage is a choice. That may not be a definition of marriage, but that is nevertheless a fact of marriage (Warren, 1990). “You don’t marry a person, you marry a family”. So goes the conventional folk wisdom neatly summing up a fact of life. The institutions of marriage and family are inevitably intertwined. When two people choose to get married, they are also choosing the integration of two families (Lau, 2005). Sociologically, that is what a marriage is about: the integration of twp families. After marriage, her family and his family will likely come to be considered jointly as “our folks”. That is the intended meaning of marriage. In practical terms, a brother-in-law is treated as a brother, a sister-in-law is treated as a sister, and a mother-in-law is treated as one’s own mother (Byng-Hall, 1980).

The US Bureau of the Census (1986:116) defines the term family as “a group of two persons or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption, and residing together. Most of us live out a large share of our lives in some form of family or another. We can easily see that family cannot be ignored if we want to understand the societal patterns and processes all around us. This is because the social relationships called family is such an important part of the society. In fact no society has existed without some sort of social arrangements that may be labelled kinship or family.

ATTITUDE OF MOTHER-IN-LAW TOWARDS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AS A DETERMINANT FACTOR IN MARITAL STABILITY IN SOME SELECTED FAMILIES