ABSTRACT
The study investigated the extent personality and marital stability of parents predicts academic performance of junior secondary school students in Akwa-Ibom state. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. A sample of 778 respondents drawn from a population of 15568 respondents which comprised of 7784 junior secondary school students and 7784 parents in Akwa-Ibom state was used for the study. The study was drawn using two stage sampling technique. Two instruments were used for the study. They included Personality and marital stability Factor Questionnaire (PMSFQ) and Students’ Performance Questionnaire (SPQ). The instruments were validated by three experts. They included one each in Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling and Educational Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instruments (PMSFQ and SPQ) were determined using Cronbach alpha statistic which yielded coefficients of 0.83 and 0.76respectively which showed that they were high and reliable enough for data collection. Three well- briefed research assistants helped the researcher in data collection. Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient was used to answer the 10 research questions that guided the study while linear regression analysis was used to test the 10 hypotheses that guided the study at 0.05 alpha level. The instrument from 771 students that responded well and returned their instruments were used for the analysis. The results showed among others that Personality variables (openness to experience, Conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness) of parents significantly to a moderate positive extent predicted the academic performance of junior secondary school students. It also revealed that Parental marital stability skills significantly to a high positive extent predicted academic performance of junior secondary school students Based on these findings it is recommended that teachers should identify students that have personality challenges and as well refer them to school counsellors for proper counselling on effective ways to improve on their personality traits. Teachers should ensure that all students are carried along during classroom instructions irrespective of their differences in personality traits and parental background. Government should ensure that qualified and adequate number of counsellors are employed for every school to handles students’ personality challenges. Government and school authorities should ensure regular seminars for school counsellors on effective ways of handling students with personality challenges or those that have poor academic performance due to parental marital problems. School authorities should carve out time to educate parents during parents meeting, on the need to exhibit positive personality traits at home.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of contents vi
List of tables vii
List of figures vii
Abstract x
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the
Study 1
1.2
Statement of Sroblem 7
1.3 Purpose
of the Study 8
1.4 Significance of the Study 9
1.5
Research Questions 10
1.6 Hypotheses 11
1.7 Scope of Study 12
CHAPTER
2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.
1 Conceptual Framework 14
2.1.1
Concept of personality 14
2.1.2 Concept of marital stability 20
2.
1. 3 Concept of academic achievement 23
2.1.4 Concept of academic performance 24
2.2 Theoretical Framework 25
2.2.1 Personality theory by Gordon Allport
(1961). 25
2.2.2 Theory of marital stability by Magnus
(2002). 26
2.2.3. Dynamic goal
theory of marital satisfaction by Tianguan (2011). 27
2.3 Review of Empirical Studies 28
2.4 Summary of Literature Review 33
CHAPTER
3: METHODOLOGY
3.1
Design of the Study 35
3.2 Area of the Study 35
3.3 Population of the Study 36
3.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques 37
3.5 Instrument for Data Collection 37
3.6 Validation of the Instrument 38
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument 39
3.8 Method of Data Collection 39
3.9 Method of Data Analysis 40
CHAPTER
4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Result Presentation 41
4.2 Discussion of Findings 61
CHAPTER 5:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary
of the Study 67
5.2 Conclusion
68
5.3 Educational
Implication of the Findings 68
5.4 Recommendations 69
5.5 Limitations
of the Study 70
1.6
Suggestions for Further
Study 70
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
LIST OF TABLES
4.1: Extent openness to experience of Parents predicts academic
performance
of
junior secondary students 41
4.2: Linear regression on extent openness to experience of parents
predicts
academic
performance of junior secondary students 42
4.3: Extent conscientiousness of parents predicts academic
performance
of
junior secondary students 43
4.4: Linear regression on extent conscientiousness of parents
predicts
academic
performance of junior secondary students 44
4.5: Extent extraversion of parents predicts academic performance of
junior
secondary
students
45
4.6: Linear regression on extent extraversion of parents predicts
academic
performance
of junior secondary students 46
4.7: Extent agreeableness of parents predicts academic performance of
junior
secondary
students
47
4.8: Linear regression on agreeableness of parents predicts Academic
performance
of junior secondary students 48
4.9: Extent personality variables of parents predicts academic
performance of
junior
secondary students 49
4.10: Linear regression on personality variables of parents predicts
academic
performance of junior secondary students
50
4.11: Extent parental social skills predict academic performance of
junior
secondary
students
51
4.12: Linear regression on extent parental social skills predict
Academic
performance
of junior secondary students 52
4.13: Extent parental communication skills predicts academic performance
of
junior secondary students 53
4.14: Linear regression on parental communication skills as predictor of
academic
performance junior secondary students 54
4.15: Extent sex-related skills predicts academic performance of junior
secondary
students
55
4.16: Linear regression on extent sex-related skills predict Academic
performance
of junior secondary students 56
4.17: Extent parental management skills predicts academic performance
of
junior secondary students 57
4.18: Linear regression on extent parental management skills predict
academic
performance of junior secondary students 58
4.19: Extent parental marital stability skills predict academic
performance
of
junior secondary students 59
4.20: Linear regression on extent parental marital stability skills
predict
academic
performance of junior secondary students 60
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Achievement
in one’s life can be seen as the extent to which an individual can engage the
use of effective and appropriate skills to accomplish a given task. Academic achievement is the relative change in
the behaviour of students based on marks scored in a standardized test which
depicts the outcome of effective teaching and learning in a subject (Isukpa,
2014). It is the display of knowledge attained or skills developed in the
school subject (Przepiorka, 2017) In a classroom setting, it is seen as a key
criterion that ascertains one’s abilities and potentials which can be exhibited
as knowledge attained or skills developed in a subject. Test scores or marks which are assigned by
the teacher to the students seem to be possible indicators of academic
achievement. Test scores which could be high or low usually help the teacher in
the proper evaluation and identification of strengths and weaknesses of a
learner.
Over
the years, some research studies had been conducted using varied variables such
as social behaviour, academic self-concept, learning strategies, interest in
learning, study habit, attribution, motivation, and school environmental
factors, parenting styles and socio-economic status as predictors of students’
academic achievement (Przepiorka, 2017).
Academic achievement has also been shown to be largely important in the
economic and technological development of the nation. (Davis & Hersh 2012) argued that academic achievement is an important variable that not only gives
academic qualification but also prepares students for the future; irrespective
of which ever career they choose to be part of, such as politics, economy,
science and technology. Academic achievement seem to permeate into everything in life from smallest to the largest. UNESCO (2002) maintained that academic
achievement are intimately connected to our
daily life and every body’s lifelong planning.
Notwithstanding the importance of academic achievement in
national development, the achievement of students has been declining. It
is often remarked that students’ achievements in many school subjects have
always been below expectation. The trend of poor achievements in many school
subjects has been confirmed by the recent Junior Secondary School Certificate
Examination results for the years 2014 to 2018. For instance, the JSSCE result
analysis revealed that only 57.27%, 47.64%, 51.50%, 58.99% and 49.98% of the
candidates who sat for the examination obtained five credits and above
including Mathematics and English
language in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively (JSSE, 2014-2018).
These uninspiring achievements in the Junior Secondary School Certificate
Examination (JSSCE) are causes for concern. All these go to a large extent to
reveal that academic achievement is a major problem that should be addressed. A
number of conferences and workshops have been organized with a view to
addressing the problem of academic achievement in secondary schools (Nichols
& Sutton, 2013). As a result, a number of strategies have been recommended
for teaching so that students can comprehend what they read. These include:
Close Instructional Approach, Ethno mathematics Approach, English for Academic Purpose – EAP (Godfrey,
2010); Enquiry-Discovery method (Maaß, K., & Artigue, M. 2013). And the use of ICT in the classroom (Gee,
2011). All these recommended approaches look quite interesting in their
theoretical orientation, but evidence shows that the problems are still
prevalent, as could be seen from the Junior Secondary School Certificate
Examination (JSSCE) (2014 -2018) Chief Examiners’ reports.
Trends in literature tend
to suggest that parental personality and marital quality have the potentials of
predicting academic performance of students. Personality is defined as
the set of habitual behaviours, cognitions and emotional patterns that evolve
from biological and environmental factors. Personality
is often thought of as something that arises from within the individual and
remains fairly consistent throughout life. It encompasses all of the thoughts,
behaviour patterns and social attitudes
that impact on how one views oneself and what one believes about others. Understanding personality allows
psychologists to predict how people will respond to performing in or certain
situations and the sorts of things they prefer and value and how this trait
will predict a child’s academic performance.
Personality is focused on differences between individuals. The
combination and interaction of various traits that form a personality that is
unique to each individual popularly known as the 'Big Five’ include openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and
neuroticism. (Ashton, 2013). Some
researchers earlier identified and measured these individual personality
characteristics, the environment and how they relate with human performance
while others like (Ashton 2013), is of the view that some personality traits
are shared within certain culture. In other words, the component of personality
are openness to experience of parents, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness and neuroticism
Openness to experience refers to the tendency to be imaginative, independent, and interested in
variety of practical activities. Conscientiousness
means the tendency to be organized, careful and disciplined. Extraversion talks about the tendency to be sociable, fun-loving and
affectionate versus retiring and reserved. Agreeableness focuses on the tendency to be soft- hearted,
trusting and helpful. Neuroticism
describes the tendency to be anxious, insecure and self-pitying versus
calm, secure and self-satisfying. This
agrees with the definition by (Abasiekong 2015) which refers to personality
traits or variables as consistent differences between the behaviour
characteristic of two or more people. It can also be defined as any
distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from
another. The personality characteristics tend to affect the marriage stability
which is also suspected to affect the academic achievement of children being
brought up in such homes. Marriage is a social institution which fosters the
coming together of two totally different individuals with different personality
traits, psychological make-up and often different socio-economic backgrounds to
form a family. Family is the nucleus of the society and marriage is the major
avenue whereby the society is populated. Thus, marriage seems a lifelong
interpersonal relationship between a man and a woman as a husband and a wife,
governed by legal, customary and religious principles. However, after marriage comes a period of
adjustment to each other this involves
some compromise by both parties for the survival of the relationship and
harmonious living among couples, including children. The number of children that are born in most
marriages could trigger both marital quality and instability (Chelsea,
Robert & Shannon
2017). Another thing that may trigger quality or
instability is the orientation in the marriage. For marriage to be successful,
proper marital quality is necessary. (Vanover, 2016.). Marital quality is used
as a definition of success. Marital quality is the level of marriage excellence
based on certain characteristics. Certain characteristics or criteria can
differ from one region to another. Excellence shows good qualities, and
according to (Fowers 2012) goodness is shaped by culture, and culture can vary
according to the values or norms that develop in each region. Goodness is also
an open concept, because humans are intelligent beings. It is also the process and condition of being
in harmony with the physical and social family in which the individual lives.
This indicates absence of stress and ability to maintain good interpersonal
relationship among members of the family.
Marital quality could also be the adaptation between a husband and wife
to a point where there is companion agreement on basic issues, such as
communication, social management and sex - related issues, values, as well as
in having cordial intimacy.
The product of
interaction and compatibility of individual traits among partners could also
describe marital quality. Children from stable families, on average, display less
behavioural problems, less psychological distress, greater academic achievement
and personality variables such as positive self-image and high self-esteem than
children from divorced homes (Cacioppo, Cacioppo, Gonzaga, Ogburn, &
VanderWeele, 2013). On the other hand, high number of children born into a
family could also trigger marital quality and lack of good orientation on the
side of parents. About 30% of the children born in unstable families have
experienced a marked decrease in their academic performance according to (Mark 2012).
Marital instability is defined as when couples
are unable to resolve conflicts with
the result that the same pattern of dispute occurs repeatedly and there are no
new ways of dealing with the problem.
When this same pattern of dispute occurs repeatedly and there are no new
ways of dealing with the problem, the tendency is that instability will creep
in and such instability can threaten the entire relationship resulting in
bitter quarrels, emotional withdrawal, and lack of affection, separation or
divorce. Marital instability therefore could be said to be a social problem
that is capable of causing everlasting sorrow on the society, couples and even
the children at large to a point of affecting their academic performance in
school. (Omoniyi, Falola, & Salau, 2014).
Other factors which may affect marriage quality
include income, age at marriage and academic qualification of parents. The
influence of income of couple on marital quality could be based on how couples
budget their salaries. When partners understand and agree on how money will be
spent for the up-keep of the family, during budgeting, the couple may not have
financial inconveniences such as being forced to use the reserved money in the
family to service their debts. But when one spouse wants to influence the flow
of the family expenditure, crisis can visit such couple causing anxieties,
frustration and marital instability.
Another marital factor is age. The word age means the
time a person has lived or existed. This study discusses the couple’s age at
marriage and their present age as having the potentials of influencing marital
quality. The tendency in many societies is for men to marry women younger than
they are by about three years or four years on the average. From what is
happening in most societies, one can observe that, a husband should be two
years older than the wife or the same age bracket. There are some cases where
women are older than their husbands; what matters is whether they can
accommodate each other and live together. The reason as (Mark 2012) opined is
that mature women may possess characteristics that make a successful marriage
irrespective of their educational qualification.
Educational qualification is another factor
that is suspected to predict marital quality among couples. The educational
qualification of the couples may influence their marital quality directly or
indirectly. The educational attainment of each couple may determine how stable
their marriage will be. The various forms of learning which they are exposed to
may embolden them and weaken the traditional channel of resolving marital
problem.
Over
the years, most families in Akwa Ibom State have been witnessing an alarming
state of marital quality which has been suggested to be as a result of lack of
proper orientation in form of pre-marital counseling on the part of
would-be-couples according to (Naylor, 2014).
Premarital counselling teaches intending couples what they should expect
in marriage (Adesanya, 2012), since individual couples come from different
families, culture, religious and educational backgrounds. Where there is no such pre-marital
counselling, disagreement that lead to marital quality may set in easily.
Today the picture is
becoming quite different due to technological advancement. There is quite range
of side attractions through which would-be-spouse acquire knowledge of marriage
training. The training now acquired is from Television, film houses, hotels and
friends, (Gee, 2011). It is very important that one should be very
careful in choosing a partner now because the type of partner chosen could
determine how stable a family would look like. The term instability of marriage is
a violation of social norms often conceded by the wedded couple in any environment.
The researcher sees marital instability as imbalance or continuity in one’s
experience as a result of certain indices such as lack of source of income,
permanent home and absence of a good educational qualification. Children are hardly brought up well in a home
that is not stable. A large number of them face instability at one point in
their lives (Omoiyi, Falola, & Salau, 2014). It then means that where
parents are alive to their family responsibilities, marital quality seems to be
assured. Divorce and remarriage may be rare. Specifically, divorce and
remarriage may have impact on children’s education and social adjustment. It is
important that stable or (harmonious) marriages promote children’s competence
and maturity. Marital conflict could
be associated with the children’s cognitive delay, school difficulties and
antisocial or withdrawn behaviour in School. Characteristic traits of thoughts
and behavioral patterns usually negatively affect academic achievement of
children of unstable home. (Gignac 2016) further opined that personality
variables and marital quality attempt to answer questions on why people differ
from each other in life achievement. According to some psychologists such as (Ojukwu,
2014). In the absence of marital
factors, certainly a wide variety of factors contribute to the person you are
today; including your genetics. Good upbringing, life experience and
characteristic traits are many factors of human personality. A child who is not
properly groomed could lack the development of appropriate personality for high
academic performance. (Laurin, 2012). Many would argue that what truly makes
one unique are one’s own characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and
behaviours but these are just part and parcel of one’s personality make –ups
which could be easily transferred from one generation to another (Revelle,
2013). Consequently, this thesis examines personality variables of openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and marital
quality of parents as predictors of junior secondary school students’ academic
performances in Akwa Ibom State.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Academic
achievement is intimately connected to one’s
daily life. The achievement of students in the Junior Secondary School
Certificate Examinations has been declining steadily as evidenced by the Junior
Secondary School Certificate Examination results for the years 2014 to 2018. As such, stakeholders in education industry such
as, Parents, teachers, curriculum planners and evaluators are worried. Efforts have been made through introduction of
different teaching method and their applications; allowing only qualify
teachers to teach J.S 1 and J.S 3 as foundation and examination classes
respectively and suggesting different teaching methods; the problem persists.
This informs the researcher to explore the extent personality variables
of parents and their marital quality could be predicting the academic
performance of the students. Therefore, the problem of this study put in a
question form is: how does parental personality and marital quality
predict academic performance of junior secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State?
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to find out how does
personality variables of parents and their marital quality predict academic
performance of junior secondary school students in Akwa Ibom state. Specifically, the study sought to find out:
1.
how does openness to
experience of parents predicts academic performance of junior secondary school
students in Akwa Ibom State
2.
how does conscientiousness
of parents predicts academic performance of the junior secondary school
students.
3 how does extraversion of parents
predicts academic performance of the junior secondary
school students
4 how does agreeableness parents of predicts
academic performance of the junior secondary school students
5 how does parental personality variables (openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism)
predict academic performance of the junior secondary school students.
6 how does parental social skill
predicts academic performance of the junior
secondary school students.
7 how does parental communication skill predicts academic
performance of the junior secondary
school studentsq b
8 how does parental sex-related skill predicts academic
performance of the junior secondary school students
9 how does parental managem ent skill predicts academic
performance of the junior secondary school students
10 how does parental marital stability skill predicts academic
performance of the junior secondary school students
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is designed to assess personality
and marital stability as predictors of academic performance of junior secondary
school students in Akwa Ibom State. The findings of the study if published
would hopefully benefit students, parents, counsellors, social workers,
teachers, parents, social workers, families, teachers, communities, welfare
homes, civil society of Nigeria and curriculum planners.
The findings of the study would provide the
needed data that can be used by Guidance- Counsellors in the family
counselling. This study would help address issues affecting the conditions of
various families with a view to determining various aspects of family life
which need change, in order to facilitate the positive performance of students
in schools. The finding would help counsellors to ascertain appropriate
intervention for improving marital quality of parents during family counselling.
The findings of this research would contribute positively and act as a
reference point to all guidance-counsellors towards the current trend of what
is happening in our society today. Intending couples would learn ways of
handling marital problems with a view to solving them and to reduce the rate of
separations among parents.
The
findings would also benefit social workers who offer help and guidance to anyone
affected by personal, domestic or work-related problems by gathering
information about the issue. The information that would be gathered by welfare
officers from the findings of this study could help them to solve problems of
clients such as parents, social workers, families, teachers, children,
community, welfare homes and civil society of Nigeria and be able to proffer
solutions to such problems.
The
findings of the study could help a
teacher to realize that a child’s inability to perform well in school could be
traced to what is happening in the family and parents would begin to understand
the need to realize that once a child
notices one- sided love in the life of the parents; such child is at the state of
carrying that hatred to maturity and could be inimical to the child academic
performance.
The
findings could equally provide useful knowledge to welfare homes, society for
women empowerment and women affairs commission on how to handle cases relating
to marital instability. The findings would also help co-operate organizations
such as civil society of Nigeria in the course of their activity towards
achieving their goal, they would help them to discover that there are lots of
factors undermining socio-political development in Nigeria right from the home
front.
The
findings of this study when completed and published, would inspire the
researcher on how to enquire about the causes and consequences of personality
variables and marital stability on academic performance of students. It would help future researchers to develop skills that would
enable them monitor the trend of academic achievement of students and proffer
solutions to the trending problems especially problems that are generated by
personality variables and marital quality in families. It would help the researcher become more goal
oriented and independent in personality variables and marital quality
enquiries.
The
finding of the study would help the curriculum planners to structure a suitable
curriculum to be taught in school and colleges that would handle challenges of
personality and marital problems.
1.7
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
This
study sought to answer the following research questions;
1.
How does openness to
experience of parents predicts academic performance of the Junior Secondary
School students in Akwa Ibom State?
2.
How does conscientiousness
of parents predicts academic performance of the Junior Secondary School
students?
3.
How does extraversion of
parents predict academic performance of the Junior Secondary School students?
4.
How does agreeableness of
parents predict academic performance of the junior secondary school students?
5.
How does parental
personality variables (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion
and agreeableness) predict academic performance of the Junior Secondary School
students?
6.
How do parental social
skill predicts academic performance of the Junior Secondary School students?
7.
How does parental
communication skill predicts academic performance of the Junior
Secondary School students
8.
How does parental sex-related skill predicts academic
performance of the Junior Secondary School students
9.
How does parental
management skill predicts academic performance of the Junior Secondary School
students
10. How
does parental marital quality skill predicts academic performance of the Junior
Secondary School students
1.6 HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses were tested at
0.05 level of significance.
HO1: Openness
to experience of parents does not significantly predict academic performance of Junior Secondary School
students.
HO2:
Conscientiousness of parents does not significantly predict academic performance of junior Secondary
School students.
HO3: There is
no significant relationship between extraversion of parents and academic performance of Junior Secondary School
students
HO4: There is
no significant relationship between agreeableness of parents and academic performance of junior Secondary School
students
HO5: There is
no significant relationship between parental personality variables of (openness
to experience, conscientiousness,
extraversion and agreeableness) and academic performance
of the Junior Secondary School students?
HO6: There is
no significant relationship between parental social skill and academic performance of Junior Secondary School
students.
HO7: There is
no significant relationship between parental communication skill and academic
performance of Junior Secondary School students.
HO8: There is
no significant relationship between parental sex-related skill and academic performance of Junior Secondary School
students
HO9 There is
no significant relationship between parental management skill and academic performance of Junior Secondary School students
HO10 There is
no significant relationship between parental marital quality skill and academic
performance of the Junior Secondary School students
1.8
SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
This
study took place in 10 education zones of public Junior Secondary Schools (JSS
2) in Akwa Ibom State, comprising Eket, Ikot Ekpene and Uyo. .
The
content scope includes personality variables of parents such as openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness. Marital quality
skills focused on social skill, communication skills, sex-related skills and
management skills and academic performance of Junior Secondary School Students
in the 10 education zone (JSS2) of Akwa Ibom State was focused. The reasons for
using JSS 2, Students was because they were in the middle class of Junior Secondary
classes. They are adjusted to junior secondary syllabus and would not be
prepararing for any external examination as JSS 3 students. Academic
performance of students, in English language and mathematics in JSS 2 examination in 2018/2019 will be obtained and
correlated with the scores from items on personality and marital quality factor
questionnaire (PMQFQ).
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