Psycho-social Factors as Correlates of Attitude of Undergraduate Students Towards Same-Sex Marriage in Osun State

This study provides empirical findings on determinants of sexual orientation identity of undergraduate students in Osun State. It further determined the willingness of students to seek counseling help for adjustment on their sexual orientation. The study adopted descriptive survey where 1487 students from three universities were selected using multi-stage sampling techniques; data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicated that 93.6% were heterosexual; 3.7% were bisexual while 3.1% were homosexuals; there was a significant relationship between undergraduate sexual orientation identity and attitude of undergraduate students towards same-sex marriage (χ2=17.3, p<0.05). Results further revealed that 15.7 percent of the students had a positive attitude towards same-sex marriage. There was a significant relationship between self-esteem and attitude of undergraduate students towards same-sex marriage. It also revealed that parenting style (χ2=3.07, p<0.05), family types (χ2=15.4, p<0.05) fraternal birth order (χ2=33.2, p<0.05) and attitude of undergraduate students towards same-sex marriage; except peer influence (χ2=2.19, p>0.05) have no significant relationship. The results further revealed that people with homosexuals, sexual orientations prefer help through psychotherapy (36.8%), spiritual approaches (60.0%), counseling (37.9%) and personal determination (8.4%). In conclusion, most of the students maintain a heterosexual relationship while few engage in homosexual, bisexual relationship and that spiritual approaches could be way out for those that identified themselves as being homosexual or bisexual.