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Articles

CIJP: VOL. 7, NO. 1, JUNE 2022

RELIGIOSITY AND COPING SELF-EFFICACY AS PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS DIVORCE AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Submitted
October 24, 2022
Published
2022-07-15

Abstract

Divorce has a pervasive effect on married people's lives as it affects them physically, psychologically and spiritually. Studies have shown that divorce rates remain intractable in our modern society. This study, therefore, investigated how religiosity and coping self-efficacy affect attitudes towards divorce among married couples in Ibadan, Nigeria.  An ex-post facto research design using a cross-sectional survey was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used to select six communities in Ibadan North Local Government in Oyo State. Data was collected using a-structured questionnaire comprising demographic variables, religiosity (α=0.96), coping self-efficacy (α =0.98) and attitude towards divorce (α =0.70). Data were analyzed using a t-test for independent mean and multiple regressions at a p<0.05 level of significance. The results showed that coping self-efficacy significantly influenced attitude toward divorce t(293) =-5.6, p< 0.05). Also, religiosity and coping self-efficacy jointly predicted attitude towards divorce [R2 =0.12, F (2, 293) = 20.24, p < 0.05]. Furthermore, coping self-efficacy independently predicted attitude toward divorce (β= - 0.36, p < 0.05). However, religiosity did not significantly predict attitude towards divorce (β=0.04, p > 0.05). The study recommends that marriage councillors and clergymen should be actively involved in developing coping self-efficacy among potential couples and dissuades them from a negative attitude toward divorce.