PERCEPTION OF RELATIONSHIP DETERIORATION AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPRAISAL

Human beings in general go through life with different kinds of needs - physical, emotional and psychological. Some of these needs require reaching out to others for the satisfaction of such needs. Hence, relationships are part of human existence, and this predisposes people to seek and get into relationships with others. However, the level of relationship deterioration among youths is alarming, hence the need for this study. The study seeks to find out the causes of deteriorating relationship among youths in Nigeria, determine the consequences of deteriorating relationship on youths, investigate the ways of reducing relationship deterioration among youths, examine the various psychological remedies available for unhealthy perception of deteriorating relationship among youths and find out how to help youths already involved in unhealthy relationship. Furthermore, the study was anchored on social exchange theory by George Homans (1958). The researcher adopted both primary and secondary sources of data collection. The primary sources were direct oral interviews and interactions with some of the participants. While the secondary sources of data collection were the print media, journals, books, social media sources and broadcasting media. The study found out that liberation of sex, relationship prophecy and the wrong people seeking for the right people to marry are some of the causes of relationship deterioration among youths. It was recommended that counselling psychologists should educate the youths and improve the quality of romantic relationship which will be used to develop a template to be used when need arises.