Impact of self-esteem, locus of control and gender on attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parents among some adults in Ibadan Metropolis

Past research have shown evidence that most Nigerians, especially the Yorubas possess negative attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parents. There is however paucity of literature on psychological and social factors responsible for the observed negative attitudes. This study examined the influence of self esteem, locus of control and gender on attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parents of 300 adult males (N=150) and females (N=150) randomly drawn from Ibadan metropolis. The study adopted an expost facto design utilizing a survey technique for data collection. The main instrument is a questionnaire consisting of demographics, a self-esteem scale developed by Adanijo and Oyefeso (1986), locus of control scale developed by Craig, Franklin and Andrew (1981) and attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parent questionnaire designed by the researchers. All measures used were psychometrically sound.
Result generated from the study indicated that the most significant psychological factor affecting people's negative attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parents is self-esteem (t = - 3.5; P< .001) with individuals that possess high self esteem expressing more positive attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parent (X = 102.6, N = 140), than individual with low esteem (X = 97.0, N = 160). The interaction of locus of control and self esteem also significantly influenced attitude towards child adoption and adoptive parents (F = 5.4, P<.02).

These results implied that for any attitudinal change programme to be successful, people's personality dispositions have to be considered. It is thus suggested that researchers interested in changing people's attitude towards child adoption policy and adoptive parents need to consider personality factors. The above results have implication for social policy and social work practice in Ibadan community.