EFFECT OF NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING ON MARITAL CONFLICT AMONG MARRIED TEACHERS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ABIA STATE

Abstract

This study examined the effect of negotiation training on marital conflict among married primary school teachers in Abia State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design using a 2×2 factorial matrix was adopted. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Twenty-four married teachers were selected from a population of 687 teachers identified with marital conflict cases in the state. The participants comprised 12 teachers in the negotiation training group and 12 in the control group. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed, and data were collected using the Marital Conflict Identification Questionnaire (MCIQ), a 30-item instrument developed by the researchers with a four-point rating scale. The instrument was validated by three experts from the College of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State. Data were collected in three phases: pre- treatment, treatment, and post-treatment. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tested the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that negotiation training significantly reduced marital conflict, while gender showed no significant influence. Recommendations were made for counseling services and teacher support programme.