FAMILY STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOURAL VALUES ORIENTATION AMONG FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the influence of family structure on behavioural values orientation among first year students of public universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two research questions were raised and converted to null hypotheses. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design. The stratified and accidental sampling techniques were employed to select a sample of 1800 first-year students from a population of 69,562 for the study. The instrument used for data collection was “Behavioural Values Orientations Questionnaire” with reliability estimate of .82. The Independent t-test was the was adopted to test the hypotheses. The results of the statistical analysis from the hypotheses showed that, there is a significant influence of family structure and family size on behavioural values orientation in terms of academic value, moral value, societal value and overall value orientation among first year students. It was recommended, among others, that individuals should avoid the practice of polygamous family type to help them concentrate or focus on few children to reduce friction amongst siblings and subsequent academic, moral and societal behavioural problem.