Perceived Influence of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication Skills on Marital Stability among Married Lecturers of Federal University Dutsin-ma, Katsina State Nigeria

Abstract

The paper tries to find out the perceived influence of verbal and non-verbal communication skills on marital stability. The main aim of the study is to investigate the perceived influence of verbal and non-verbal communication skills on marital stability among married Lecturers of Federal University Dutsin-ma. The study was guided by three (3) objectives. Three research questions were answered and one hypothesis was tested. The descriptive research design was adopted for the study to investigate perceived influence of verbal and non-verbal communication Skills on Marital Stability among Lecturers of Federal University Dutsin-ma Katsina State. The target population of the study consisted of all married Lecturers of Federal University Dutsin-ma Katsina State. Thus, purposive sampling techniques was adopted to target only married Lecturers. Sample of sixty four Lecturers were randomly selected. The instrument for data collection ‘Working Couples’ Utilization of Communication Strategies’ (WCUCS) was adapted from Makinde & Adebanyi (2019) A pilot test of the instrument of data collection was done and obtained Cronbach value of 0.67 which makes it adequate for this study. Results show that there is significant influence of verbal and non-verbal Communication Skills on marital stability among married Lecturers of Federal University Dutsin-ma; There is significant influence of burnout experience at work on couple’s use of communication skills at home; There is significant influence of couple’s length of marriage on their utilization of communication skills; There is no significant gender difference of the influence of working couples communication skills on marital stability among married couples. Recommendations were made thus: Married couples should spare time within their matrimonial home to talk about pleasant and unpleasant issues before sleeping and married couples are strongly encouraged to be open and use verbal and non-verbal communication that can foster marital stability.