Causes of Marital Infidelity among Married Residents of Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the causes of marital infidelity among married residents in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State. A descriptive research design of the survey type was used for this study. The population for the study comprises all married residents in Ilorin metropolis. A multistage sampling technique was used to select three hundred and eighty-three (383) respondents who participated in the study. A researcherdesigned structured questionnaire validated by three experts in the Department of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Education, University of Ilorin. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through the test re-test method. A reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained. The three postulated hypotheses were tested using the parametric statistics of t-test, mean and standard deviation at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of this study showed that childlessness, lack of sexual satisfaction and distance between spouses were responsible for the marital infidelity in the study area. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that childlessness, lack of sexual satisfaction between spouses and distance between spouses were among the causes of marital infidelity among married residents in Ilorin metropolis. It was recommended that married residents should be informed that procreation is not the basis of marriage, the married partner should be able to adjust to the sexual demands of each other and spouses should not be far from each other, they should keep a close distance from each other