Exploring Coping Mechanisms, Marital Resilience, and Religion in Everyday Life Among Spouses of Nigerian Military Personnel in The Face of Infidelity

Sulaiman Musa  Aliyu; Abdul-Razaq O.  Kilani; Ibrahim Suberu

doi:10.66277/jiel.1.1.265

Authors

Sulaiman Musa Aliyu Department of Religious and Cultural Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria Author
Abdul-Razaq O. Kilani Department of Religious and Cultural Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria Author
Ibrahim Suberu Department of Religious and Cultural Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66277/jiel.1.1.265

Keywords:

Infidelity, Religion in Everyday Life, Military Families, Coping Mechanisms, Marital Resilience, Nigerian Context

Abstract

Infidelity remains a destabilizing challenge in military marriages, often intensified by the unique demands of military service such as prolonged deployments, institutional hierarchies, and the emotional burden of separation. While global scholarship has examined the impact of infidelity on military families, limited attention has been given to the Nigerian context, particularly in understanding how religion in everyday life shapes marital resilience. In a deeply religious society such as Nigeria, experiences of marital betrayal are not merely understood as psychological or social crises, but also as spiritual experiences negotiated through daily religious practices, rituals, and moral commitments. This study explores coping mechanisms and resilience strategies among spouses of Nigerian military personnel by positioning everyday religious practices as central to sustaining marital relationships amid infidelity. Employing a qualitative-descriptive approach, the study draws on interviews, cultural narratives, and religious frameworks to foreground localized responses to marital betrayal. The findings reveal that spouses rely heavily on faith and spirituality through everyday religious practices such as collective prayer, scriptural recitation, participation in communal worship, consultation with religious leaders, and the internalization of patience-oriented religious values as mechanisms for coping with infidelity. Social support from extended families, peer networks within military barracks, and women’s associations also emerged as significant in mitigating psychological distress. Emotional regulation strategies, including forgiveness, acceptance, and interpreting infidelity as a spiritual trial, further reinforced marital endurance. Beyond coping mechanisms, resilience was expressed through prioritizing children’s welfare, establishing adaptive household routines, and reproducing religious values in everyday domestic life that emphasize patience, devotion, and familial solidarity. This study demonstrates that marital resilience among Nigerian military families is shaped not only by personal agency and communal solidarity, but also by religion in everyday life, where religious beliefs and practices are continuously embodied within daily domestic experiences. By offering a contextualized perspective, the study contributes to the growing discourse on everyday religion, family resilience, and the anthropology of religion, while also providing practical recommendations for culturally sensitive counseling and faith-based interventions aimed at strengthening military family well-being.

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