ABSTRACT
This
had been an attempt to investigate the
attitude of mother-in-law towards daughter-in-law as a determinant factor in
marital stability, in carrying
out this study, Questionnaire
on the Attitude of Mother-in-law towards Daughters-in-law as a Determinant of
Marital Stability (QAMDDMS) was
developed and percentage, mean and chi-square at 0.05 level of significant were
used to test the hypotheses. The results of the study show that the
communication patterns of daughter-in-law from different cultural backgrounds;
communication and attitude of daughter-in-law with different educational
background and also socioeconomic background all have significant influence on
the attitude of daughters-in-law towards mother-in-law. The implication for policy and practice respectively
drawn from the study are that: spouse family should be aware of individual
differences before marriage or else the marriage could be heading to disaster.
The study highlighted the needs for further study on teachers’ gender;
effectiveness and teaching styles on students’ performance.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Inside title page ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Abstract vi
Table of content vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Purpose of the Study 6
1.4 Research Questions 7
1.5 Research Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance of the Study 8
1.7 Scope of the Study 9
1.9 Definition of Terms 10
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction 11
2.2 The Concept of Attitude 11
2.3
Types of Attitude 15
2.3.1 Cognitive Component 15
2.3.2 Affective Component 15
2.3.3 Behavioural Component 15
2.4 Attitude Formation 16
2.5
Who is a daughter in law\mother in law? 20
2.6
Marital Instability and the role of mother in
law 21
2.7 Factors Influencing Daughter in law Attitude
towards 23
Mother
in law
2.7.1 When
Mothers-in-Law Become or not become 23
Grandmothers
2.7.2 The Pushy Mother-in-Law 24
2.7.3 The Possessive
Mother-in-Law 25
2.7.4 Suppression of
women within the extended family 26
2.7.5 Ineffective Communication 27
2.7.6 Communication Style
2
2.7.8
Mother-In-Laws’ Attitude 31
2.7.9
Family, Education and Cultural Background 37
and Effect on
Communication
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 44
3.2 Research Design 44
3.3 Area of Study 45
3.4 Population 45
3.4 Sampling Procedure 45
3.6 Instrumentation 46
3.6.1 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument 46
3.7 Administration
of Instrument 47
3.8 Data Analysis 47
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Introduction 49
4.2
Analysis of Respondents Profile 49
4.3 Testing of Hypotheses and Interpretation of
Results 51
4.4 Summary of Findings 54
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction 56
5.2 Discussion of
Findings 56
5.3 Summary of the Study 59
5.4 Conclusion 61
5.5 Counselling Implications 61
5.5 Recommendations 63
5.6 Suggestion for Future Research 57
References 61
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Marriage
is the legal relationship between a husband and a wife (Hornby 2007). It is a
process where a man and a woman agree to have a life contract between each
other mostly with the aim of procreation and self development. Marriage is also
an agreement between two families to join their children together as husband
and wife just as an African saying that you don’t marry a person, you marry a
family. 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, what marriage is all about is the
integration of two 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, 2008).
The US Bureau of the Census (2006)
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. 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 Family relationships are never
fixed; they change as the self and the significance of other family members
grow older, and as the changing society influences their respective lives
(Riley, 2008). Family experts report that in reality the most difficult
relationship is the one between the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law.
Conflicts between wives and their mothers-in-law do not just happen. They need
an arena, just as germs and viruses need an environment to breed (Lau, 2005).
There must first be a common area in which both the wife and her mother-in-law
are in constant contact. If the wife and her mother-in-law do not meet each
other at all and each of them just lives her own life, there would, in theory,
be no problem at all between them, because there is no contact. No contact, no
conflict. It’s as simple as that. It is like saying if there were no marriages,
there would be no divorces (Philips, 2005).
“When you play badminton or tennis, there is hardly any chance of you
crashing into your opponent unless you are playing like a chimpanzee. This is
because each of you has your own court. When you play a game like squash,
however, you have to be very careful not to crash into your opponent, or smash
his head with your racquet” Lau, 2005. The interaction between the wife and her
mother-in-law is like the game of squash, where there are lots of opportunities
for both players to be in contact with and crash into each other (Silverstein,
2012).
When intergenerational conflicts occur, it typically involves the wife
and her mother-in-law. In fact, in-law trouble has been characterized as a
“female problem”, perhaps because women have traditionally shouldered the responsibility
for maintaining kinship ties (Marotz-Baden & Cowan, 2007). Fischer (2008)
found that wives tend to turn to their own mothers for help after giving birth.
Yet they may regard their mother-in-law’s concern over her new grandchild as
“interference”.
The mother-in-law/daughter-in-law impasse has never given birth to any
good, dividing women who have much in common and who could benefit from one
another’s friendship. It causes great unhappiness to mother-in-law, who feels
her overtures of friendship are rebuffed, and who fear their connection with
their son and grandchildren may be threatened by the daughter’s-in-law
hostility. It causes distress to the daughter-in-law, who feels judged and
pressured, particularly on matters involving her role as a woman in the family
(Apter, 2011).
Interpersonal communication is an integral part of human experience. Moreover,
interpersonal skills are highly relevant to adjustment, because they can be
critical to ones happiness and success in life. There is a need to be aware
that communication is very important between mother and daughter in law and it can
be effective or ineffective depending on what transpires between the speaker
and the hearer and care should be taken not be an ineffective communication
(Byng-Hall, 2008).
Simmel (1955) made another important point by
stressing that both conflict and cooperation are ways human beings relate to
each other. When there is conflict between the wife and the mother-in-law, this
should not create a rift if there is effective communication between the two.
If information is shared between the two women at all times as necessary, there
will be an understanding of self which will create a positive attitude by the
wife towards the mother-in-law.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Strained relationship is often
noticed in many extended families, to the extent that daughter –in-laws often
pray that they do not have mothers-in-law, or they don’t want those ones that
will live with them. This is often as a result of the treat that mothers-in-law
pose to regular running of the family. According to Ilumoye (2011), a lot of
homes have been broken as a result of family (mother in law) interference into
marriage.
A question to be raised is why
daughters-in-law are so sensitive to what they perceive as lapses in a
mother’s-in-law recognition of them. The answer may lie in the high demands
they put on the response of a mother figure. Indeed, the touchiness or
sensitivity often displayed by daughters-in-law to a mother’s-in-law behaviour
is close to that of an adolescent’s to her mother (Apter, 2010). Many tensions,
too, take place in the broader context of the work/family dilemma that is
etched into so many of these women’s lives.
The
modern couple sees marriage solely as an integration of two individuals-just
the husband and the wife. That seems to be the modern perception of a marriage.
When the modern couple gets married, they often forget that it is not just a
relationship between the two of them that has begun, but the relationship between
the husband’s family, no matter how large, and the wife’s family, no matter how
large. Problems somehow arise from this modern but much distorted perception of
a marriage, because based on it; in-laws do not play important roles. Thus,
brothers-in-law are not treated as brothers, sisters-in-law are not treated as
sisters and mother-in-law is not treated as mother. When this happens, the
relationship has begun on a wrong footing (Duval, 2004).
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The
primary purpose of this study is to investigate the attitude of mothers-in-law
towards daughters-in-law as a determinant of marital stability in selected
families in Lagos metropolis. But specifically, the study will among other
things seek to:
i.
Determine the role of effective communication
on the attitude of mothers-in-law towards their daughters-in-law
ii.
Discuss the consequences of ineffective
communication between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws in marital stability,
iii.
To recommend ways to improve marital
stability.
1.4 Research Questions
In
order to provide direction for this study, the following questions are asked:
i.
To what extent does communication style
influence the attitude of daughter-in-laws towards their mother-in-laws?
ii.
Is there any difference in attitude and
communication of daughter-in-laws from different cultural background towards
their mother-in-laws?
iii.
Do married women with different educational
background differ in their communication and attitude towards their
mother-in-laws?
iv.
Is there any difference of socioeconomic background
in attitude of daughters-in-law towards mother-in-law?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following
null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
1. The communication
styles of daughters-in-law will not significantly influence her attitude
towards the mother-in-laws.
2. The
communication patterns of daughter in law from different cultural backgrounds
will not significantly influence their attitude towards their mother-in-law.
3. There
will be no significant difference in the communication and attitude of daughter
in law with different educational background towards their mother-in-laws.
4. There
is no significant effect of socioeconomic background in attitude of daughters-in-law
towards mother-in-law.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This
study is significant because many people will find it useful. Such as:
Married
women who are having problems with their mother-in-laws will benefit from this
study as it will expose them to other peoples experiences and give them insight
into solving their own problems.
Married
men who have to continually mediate between their mother and wife will benefit
from this study as it will help to find a way round the problems.
Mother-in-laws
who have been having a continual conflict with their daughter-in-laws will be
able to use this study to resolve their differences.
Marriage
counsellors, psychologists and clergymen will also find this work beneficial in
their respective fields since they provide both pre-marital and post-marital
counselling to couples to be and couples.
The society at large will also benefit from this study in the sense that
their level of understanding of the conflict that could arise between
mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is raised and the resolution is provided.
It will
further be useful for future researchers in related discipline.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This
study will be carried out among married women in Lagos State. It will study the
attitude of mother-in-laws towards daughter-in-laws as a determinant factor in
marital stability. The limitation of the study is that it will not include
single ladies and men in Lagos State.
1.9 Definition of Terms
The
following terms are defined as used in the study:
Attitude: it is an opinion or
general feeling about something. It is a physical posture, either conscious or unconscious
especially when interacting with others. It could also be referred to as an
arrogant or assertive manner assumed as a challenge or for effect.
Mother-in-law: she is the mother
of one’s spouse.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment