EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, INCOME AND MARITAL ADJUSTMENT OF PERSONS IN BAYELSA AND DELTA STATES

BY

EDAGOBO, Justin Oghenovo

Department of Guidance and Counselling

Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated emotional intelligence, income and marital adjustment of married persons in Delta and Bayelsa States. The purpose is to establish if there is relationship between emotional intelligence, income and marital adjustment among married persons in Delta and Bayelsa States. Two research questions were raised and were hypothesized to guide this study. The study adopted the correlational survey design with the population of seven thousand, two hundred and thirty-two (7,232). This entails three thousand, seven hundred and sixteen (3,716) from Warri and three thousand, five hundred and sixteen (3,516) from Yenagoa Metropolis. The multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select one thousand two hundred (1,200) respondents. The research instrument is 30 items, 4-point modified likert scale questionnaire titled “Emotional intelligence, Income and Marital Adjustment Scale” (EIMAS). The Cronbach Alpha Statistics and it yielded a reliability index (α) of 0.97 for emotional intelligence, 0.91 for income and 0.84 for marital adjustment. The data obtained was analysed using the Coefficient of Determination and Regression statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that there is significant relationship between income and marital adjustment of married persons in Bayelsa and Delta States. However, there is no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and marital adjustment among married persons. Based on the findings, it is recommended that married persons should pay attention to and adopt effective family financial management practices to enhance better marital adjustment. There is need to reconsider the emotional health of the marital relationship among married persons. Finally, couples with and without instability issues are advised to seek family counselling services.

Keywords: Marital Adjustment, Marriage, Emotional Intelligence, Income