A survey of factors determining mate selection among university of ilorin undergraduates during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The researcher sought to investigate mate selection for marital purposes during COVID-19 pandemic, which may be tasking for undergraduates in Nigerian universities. Mate selection is a vital aspect in the process leading up to marital relationships and personal mate selection is common practice across societies, except for the very few wherein individuals are given a mate instead of selecting their mates. Given that most marriages result from the relationships that are formed during studies in tertiary institutions, selecting a good mate from the onset determines the quality of the marriage later on in life. The study investigated how the mate selection experience was affected by the adversaries, brought to the fore by the onset of COVID-19 restrictions. The study employed descriptive research of the survey type. The population for this study consisted of all University of Ilorin undergraduates. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 420 respondents who were undergraduates at the University of Ilorin, Kwara-State. A research instrument titled “Factors Determining Mate Selection among Undergraduates (FDMSUQ)” was used to elicit information, needed from the respondents. The face and content validity of the instrument were ensured while a 0.72 reliability coefficient was obtained. Three research questions were raised and four hypotheses were formulated. All the research questions and hypotheses were tested using descriptive and inferential statistics at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that age, religion, ethnic group, and family structure significantly influence mate selection among undergraduates. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Professional Counsellors in collaboration with the parents of undergraduates and religious organisations should constantly make programmes available to undergraduates of all age groups on how, when and what it entails to select a mate, that they will live together with till death do them part