Abstract

The study investigated dominance, academic qualification and child sex as predictors of marital conflict in Nsukka LGA Enugu State. Two hundred and twenty (220) staff of Nsukka LGA were randomly drawn from Nsukka LG Headquarter. 110 out of this population were males and 110 were females with average of 40ys. Two instruments: Dominance Scale designed and validated by Hamby (1996) and Marital Conflict Scale designed and validated by Center for Human Resources (2000) were used in the study. The results of the Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the three hypotheses tested significantly predicted marital conflict; dominance (β = .20, t = 2.45, P < 0.05), educational status (β = .13, t = 1.23, P < 0.05) and child sex (β = .22, t = 1.20, P < 0.05) respectively. It was therefore concluded that marital issues and relationships are not meant to be dominated by a man or woman irrespective of his /her academic qualifications. Also, one of the major reasons for marriage is procreation, thus child sex expectancy should not be limited to a particular gender. Implications and limitations were discussed and suggestions were made.