Ibadan ourna of the

Contents

Career Choices of Nigerian Youths Entering Public-Funded UniversityNyitor A. Shenge

Managing Fault Lines in Nigeria's Protracted Conflicts: The Inevitabilityof Multi-Track Diplomacy in the Jos Crises

Animasawun Gbemisola

Public Service Reform and Nigeria's Global CompetitivenessE. RemiAiyede

Reform in the Power Sector and Implications for Industrial Developmentin Nigeria: The Case of Difference between Sixand Half a Dozen?

Emeka E. Okafor

Internal Security Operations and Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: Issuesand Challenges

Idowu Johnson

Influence of Gender and Locus of Control on Post-Conflict Mental HealthMeasurements of Students in Ios Plateau State

Daramola, A. S. and Ndu A. O.

Work-Family Conflict and Job Demand Control m PsychologicalAdjustment of Lawyers in Private Practice

John O. Ekore

FACULTY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF IBADANISSN 1597 5207

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Ibadan Journal !}!tlze

Social SciencesEditor:

C. O. Olatubara

Ass. Editor: 0.8.C. NwoliseBusiness Manager: O. A. Oyeranti

Copy Editor: T. O. Omotosho

Associate EditorsA.S. Bankole (Economics) Emeka E. Okafor (Sociology)

Ibidun Adelekan (Geography) C.O. Olatubara (Urban & Regional Planning)O. B. C. Nwolise(Political Science)

Advisory BoardOgohAlubo, University of JoslNational Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS), NigeriaJ. M. Baba, Federal University of Technology, Minna, NigeriaMichael Bratton, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USAClara Fayorsey, University of Ghana, Legon GhanaMarjor Hoek Hoek-Smith, Whaton School, University of Pennsylvania, USAL. Adele Jinadu, Centre for Advanced Social Sciences (CASS), Port-Harcourt, NigeriaPer Lindskog, University of Link oping, SwedenPatrick Low, World Trade Organization, Geneva, SwitzerlandIsrael Taiwo Ojo, University ofIlorin, NigeriaSola Olowu, ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, NigeriaAnne Letitia Peplau, University of California, LosAngeies, USA

Subscriptions and Marketing

Two issues ofIJSS are published per year, in March and September, by the Faculty of the Social Sciences. University of Ibadan, Nigeria.Annual subscriptions (2005): Nigeria and ECOWAS Member States xl.500 (individual), x3,OOO(institution): CJUtsideECOWAS, restof Africa, and the world US$30 (individual), US$75 (institution): Single Issues (2005): Nigeria and ECOW.<\SMember States x400(individual), x6S0 (institution); Outside ECOWAS, rest of Africa, and the world US$40 (institutionj.Advertising and other marketingdetails are available from:

The Business ManagerIbadan Journal of the Social Sciences (USS) Department of EconomicsUniversity of'Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaEmail: jOllrnal.ijss@mail.ui.edu.ng

(920 IIFaculty of the Social Sciences. University of Ibadan, NigeriaAll rights reserved.

ISSN: 1597-5207 Printed by Samlad Printers. Mokola, lbadan 08028252503

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Social Scie esVolume 12/ Number 1/ MarcJi:~~t~~',c: :;'.;

, ~ ."'

Contents

Career Choices of Nigerian Youths Entering Public-Funded UniversityNyitor A. Shenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 1

Managing Fault Lines in Nigeria's Protracted Conflicts: The Inevitability of Multi- TrackDiplomacy in the Jos Crises

Animasawun Gbemisola 11

Public Service Reform and Nigeria's Global CompetitivenessE. Remi Aiyede ' , 28

Reform in the Power Sector and Implications for Industrial Development in Nigeria:The Case of Difference between Six and Half a Dozen?'

Emeka E. Okafor . . . . . . . . . . .. . 47

Internal Security Operations and Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: Issues and ChallengesIdowu Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . .. . 65

Influence of Gender and Locus of Control on Post-Conflict Mental Health Measurementsof Students in Jos Plateau State

Daramola, A. S. and Ndu A.D. 77

Work-Family Conflict and Job Demand Control in Psychological Adjustment of Lawyersin Private Practice

John O. Ekore ' ' 85

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© Ibadan Journal of the Social SciencesVolume 12, Number 1, March 2014

Work-Family Conflict and Job- Demand Control in PsychologicalAdjustment of Lawyers in Private Practice

John O. EkoreDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Despite the continuous interest in psychological adjustment of entrepreneurs as importantfactor in wellbeing and business outcomes, lawyers in private practice especially in Nigeriahave not been covered and largely documented in the body of literature that exist. Hencethis study that examined the roles played by work-family conflict and job demand control on

I psychological adjustment among lawyers as entrepreneurs in private practice. It involved asample of 1J 6 male and female lawyers in Ibadan metropolis. Three hypotheses were testedby using pearson 'r' and multiple regression statistics. It was found that work-family conflictwas negatively related to psychological adjustment (r = -0.412, P<.Ol) while job demandcontrol positively correlated with psychological adjustment (r = -0.185, P<.OI). Also,work-family conflict andjob demand control jointly predicted psychological adjustment (F(2,153) = 20.55, P <.05). Independently, predictions were found for work-family conflict(B=-0.640, t = 5.86, P<.05) and job demand- control (B=-O.077, t=-2.85, P<.05). It wasconcluded that work-family conflict and job demand-control are important factors in thepsychological adjustment of lawyers inprivate practice. It implies that the variables aredeserving of attention in personal development for lawyers as entrepreneurs. More so,attempt at improving their adjustment capacity need tofocus on preparing them with copingskills to balance work-family demands and exercise control over their job related activities,

Keyword: Psychological adjustment, Lawyers in private practice, Job-demand control,Working-family conflict

IntroductionPsychological adjustment has consistently been foundto be a major issue in the life of entrepreneurs. Itrepresents the mental response(s) of an individual tolife experiences and the strategies employedintentionally. Psychological adjustment represents asignificant aspect of individual's mental health. As abalancing act, it may be affected by unfavourablefactors such as genes, a wounding trauma, privatepressures and stress of working. The pressure tosurvive and remain successful in private practice is akey driver to lawyers as entrepreneurs. Some of theirlife experiences as entrepreneurs may generate

8S

stressors to shape their reaction that is defmed in thelevel of psychological adjustment. According toGoogins (1991), working and living constitute 1:\"-.,,0

primary pillars 0f existence, and every civilization andsociety grapples with the delicate relationships thatsupport them. Since both life domains (work andfamily) demand resources such as time and/or energyand these resources are scarce, participating in bothdomains has the capacity to generate inter-roleconflict. Greenhaus and Beuntell (1985) proposed theconcept of work-family conflict which theydifferentiated into time-based, strain-based and

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behavioural-based forms. and work-family conflict orfamily-work conflict as directions (Kelloway. Gottlieb& Barham. 1999; Gutek & Searle. 1991). Also. Ijide(2013); Rantenen et al., (2011) reported challengesamong workers while trying to strike a balance betweenworkload and family load. Psychological adjustment istherefore an important component of people's overallwellbeing.

The concept of work-life conflict is about thelevel of imbalance that exists between work-life andfamily-life. Conflict between work and familyresponsibilities has long been known to createpsychological distress and role overload for individualsthough it was not conceptualized as work-familyconflict as it is currently known (Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn,Snoek & Rotthenthal, 1964). Managing work andfamily domains remain imperative for individuals.Previous studies had indicated tbat work-family conflictinterferes with family far more than it does with work(e.g. Roth & David, 2009). Some other findings thatexamined work-family conflict from gender perspecti vereported that work-family balance is important to bothmale and females, but it comes harder on women.

Since work-family conflict is an inter-roleconflict where the participation in one role interfereswith the participation in the other, it become necessaryto consider those in entrepreneurial activity such aslawyers in private practice. They are able to determinethe amount of attention to give work and familydemands because of freedom from work rules of thepublic service and employers. They are able to definethe balance between career or ambition and lifestyle(health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritualdevelopment). The question from this is; can therereally be a true equitable balance between work andfamily? However, not much is known aboutentrepreneurs being able to always balance work andfamily demands. In other words, conflict seems to beinevitable in most discussions of work and family life.This seems to raise issues concerning the possible role

that work-family conflict will play in the psychologicaladjustment among lawyers in private practice.

Apart from work-family conflict. it is alsonecessary to consider job-demand control as animportant factor in the investigation of psychologicaladjustment of lawyers as entrepreneurs. In privatepractice, lawyers are able to shape their work activitiesand respond to demands as considered necessary.According to Ekore & Okekeocha (2012).entrepreneurship offers the opportunity to exercisesignificant control over job demands. It is a popularassumption that the lawyer in private practice like otherentrepreneurs has wide latitude in terms of controllingthe work activities. It is in this light that job demandcontrol (instead offam:ily de maud control) is beingconsidered as one of the variables that may playimportant role in the level of psychological adjustmentamong lawyers in private practice.

The job demand-control theory (also called thejob strain model) was propounded by Karasek (1989).It is covered in the Karasek's four psychologicalcategories of work: higb strain jobs, passive jobs, lowstrain jobs and active jobs. The job demand-controlposition is one of the most influential models in researchthat describe the relationship between work and health.In the model (Karasek (1979). the job demand-controlidentifies two crucial job aspects ill the work situation:job demand and job control. A review of 20 years ofempirical research on this model (van der Doef &Macs, 1999) indicated tbat a distinction is drawnbetween the strain aspects of the model which showsthat individuals working in a high strain job (highdemand-low control) experience the lowest wellbeing.Reflections on the Karasek's demand-control modelby researchers show that the model's original

conceptualisation of job demand as mental workload

has greatly been ignored. Instead, emphasis has been

largely placed on defining job demands more as physical

demands and organisational constraints. This has led

to discrepancies in the results of several studies. While

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the model has stimulated much research during recentyears, it is difficult to be precise about which aspectsof psychological demands or decision latitude are mostimportant in the model and for what categories ofworker (Karasek, 1979). It is obvious therefore that itmay not be easy to conclude that job demand-controlis only an issue for employees in paid employment.Succinctly put, it may be an important variable amongseveral others that can influence the psychologicaladjustment of lawyers in private practice.

According to Greenhouse and Powell (2006),role experience offers five categories of resources thatmay be acquired by an individual namely: skills andperspectives (e.g. interpersonal skills), psychologicaland physical resources (e.g. self-efficacy), socialcapital resources (e.g. networking, information),flexibility (e.g. flexible work arrangements) andmaterial resources (e.g. money) (Crain & Hammer,2013). Flexible work arrangement is a reflection ofthe extent which job demands can be controlled. Amongentrepreneurs, particularly lawyers in private practice,there could be high demand to survive and managethe uncertainties of entrepreneurship while the extentof control being exercised may be dependent on forcesexternal to the lawyer. Based on the assumptions, thefollowing questions come to focus:

What is the direction of relationship between work-family conflict and psychological adjustmentamong lawyers in private practice?

What role will job-demand control play in psychologicalwellbeing among lawyers?

Will work family conflict and job demand- control playa combined role in psychological adjustmentamong lawyers in private practice?

The questions have necessitated the followinghypotheses:

a. There will be significant negative relationshipbetween work-family conflict andpsychological adjustment among lawyers inprivate practice.

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b. There will be significant positive relationshipbetweenjob-dernand control and psychologicaladjustment among lawyers in private practice.

c. Work-family conflict and job-demand controlwill significantly predict psychologicaladjustment among lawyers in private practice.

MethodsDesign: The study was designed as a survey toinvestigate the influence of work-family conflict andjob demand-control in psychological adjustment oflawyers in private practice.Sample: The study involved 156 lawyers purposivelydrawn from the population ofthose in private practicewho operate sale practice and others as partners inlaw firms within Ibadan metropolis. The study had aresponse rate of83.6%. While 37.8% of the participantsare female legal practitioners, 62.2% are males. Theage of respondents range between 24 and 55 yearswith a mean of39.2 years (SD = 6.14). In the sample,79.5% are married, while 18.5% are single. Anotherl.9% in the sample is either separated divorced orwidowed.InstrumentsWork-family conflict: Work-family conflict wasassessed by the 14-item work-family conflict scaledeveloped by Friedman and Greenhaus (2000). Thescale distinguishes between work-family and family-work conflicts and between strain and time-basedconflicts (while time-based conflict is experiencedwhen time pressures associated with role prevents onefrom fulfilling the expectations of the other role. Thescale is scored on a 5-point Likert response formatthat ranged from "Strongly Agree" to "StronglyDisagree". The scale provides a four -fold classificationof work-family conflict (i .e. time-based WFC strain-based WFC, time-based FWC and strain-based FWC).Two items measure behavioural interference withfamily. Four items measure work interference withfamily, five items measure family interference withwork, while two items measure tradeoffs. Sample itemsfor the work-family conflict scale are 'when I spend

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time with my family, I am bothered by all the things onthe job that Ishould be doing' and 'because of my jobresponsibilities, the time I spend with my family is lessenjoyable and more pressured'. For family-workconflict scale, sample items include 'the demands offamily life interfere with achieving success in mycareer' and 'when I spend time on my Job, I ambothered by all the things I should be doing with myfamily'. The coefficients for the WFC and FWC scales(each with 11 items) were 0.84 and 0.81 respectively.Job- demand control (or 'discretion' as used byKarasek) was measured by using 6-items from the17-item Swedish Demand Control Support Scale, arevised version of job demand and control model. Thesix items measure time pressure and workload, whilecontrol/discretion items are concerned withopportunities for control, autonomy and decision-making in the work related environment. While sampleitems for job demand include 'Have to work very hard'and 'lots of work', examples of control items are'allows you to make your own decisions' and 'allowsfreedom'. Response to each item was on a "Yes" or"No" format. The coefficient for the present sampleis 0.88.Psychological adjustment: Psychological adjustmentwas assessed by a 30-item ways of coping scaledeveloped by Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter,DeLongis and Gruen (1986). The scale comprises ofthe dynamics of confrontive coping, distancing, selfcontrolling and social support. The items used a 3-pointLikert format, represented numerically as 1 - Usedoften, 2 - Rarely Used, 3 - Don't Use. Four itemsmeasure confrontive coping, sample items are: 'I didsomething which I didn't think would work, but at leastI was doing something', 'I let my feelings outsomehow'. Four items measure distancing. Samplesof such items are: 'went along with fate', 'sometimesI just have bad luck', 'went on as if nothing happened' .Three items measure self controlling. The items are'tried not to bum my bridges, but leave things opensomewhat', 'I tried to keep my feelings to myself'.

Two items measure seeking social support. A Sampleof such items is: 'talked to someone to find out moreabout the situation'. The coefficient for confrontivecoping, distancing, self controlling and seeking socialsupport is 0.76.

Procedure: The data collection that was supervisedby a graduate student concentrated on Ibadanmetropolis. A total of 180 questionnaires weredistributed to principals and partners in law firms inIbadan, but 156 were received and analyzed. Therespondents voluntarily agreed to complete thequestionnaires personally. Each Law firm waspurposively visited and the partner and principals wereapproached individually to participate in the study. Insome cases, three visits were made to recoverquestionnaires from each firm.

ResultsHypothesis one which states that there will besignificant negati ve relationship between work-familyconflict and psychological adjustment among lawyerswas tested with the Pearson r. The result is presentedin table 1.Table 1: Summary result of Pearson r showing therelationship between work-family conflict andpsychological adjustment among lawyers in privatepractice

SIN Variables N X SD 2

Work family 156 28.62 9.45contl ict

2 Psychological 156 114.79 14.33 -0.412** -adjustment

Results above shows significant negative correlation

between work family conflict and psychological

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adjustment (r=0.412, p<.O 1). It indicates that asrespondents' work-family conflict increases, theirpsychological adjustment reduces. Therefore, thehypothesis was confirmed as predicted.

The second hypothesis which predicted asignificant positive relationship between job demand-control and psychological adjustment among lawyerswas tested with Pearson r statistic. The result ispresented below:

Table 2: Summary result showing the associationof job demand- control and psychologicaladjustment among lawyers in private practice

SIN Variables N X SD 2

Job demandcontrol 156 13.05 2.73

2 Psychologicaladjustment 156 114.79 1433 -0.185**

**p<.Ol

As shown in table 2 above, a significant positivecorrelation between job demand control andpsychological adjustment among lawyers was reported(r=-0.185, p<.Ol). Findings indicate that asrespondents' job demand-control is increasing, theirlevel of psychological adjustment increases. Therefore,the hypothesis which predicted that job demand-controland psychological adjustment will be positively relatedis confirmed.

Finally, the hypothesis which proposed thatwork-family conflict and job demand- control willsignificantly predict psychological adjustment amonglawyers in private practice was tested with multipleregression statistics. The result is presented as below:

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Table 3: Summary of result showing the relativecontributions of work-family conflict and jobdemand control in predicting psychologicaladjustment the respondents

Predictor P pR R' F(a)

Work family

conflict

Job demand

-0.640 -5.86 <.05 046 0.212 0.55 <.05

control -0.017 -2.85 <.05

From the results, work-family conflict and job demand-control significantly predict psychological adjustment[R2= 0.212, F (2,153) = 20.6, p<.05]. The R value of0.46 shows a multiple relationship between theindependent variables and psychological adjustment.The results which find R2 value of 0.212 shows thatboth work-family conflict and job demand-control jointlycontributed 21.2% to the variation that explainpsychological adjustment among lawyers in privatepractice. Also, the independent influence of each ofthe variables shows that both work-family conflict andjob-demand-control predicted psychological adjustmentindependently (a=-0.640, t=-5.86, p<.05) and (a=-O.077,t=-2.85, p<.05) respectively. Therefore, the hypothesisis confirmed as proposed. However, male and femalelawyers were not found to be significantly different ontheir level of psychological adjustment (p>.05).

DiscussionThe investigation of psychological adjustment amonglawyers inprivate practice involved the considerationof work-family conflict and job demand-control aspossible factors of influence. Findings showed thatsignificant negative relationship exists between work-family conflict and psychological adjustment amonglawyers who are principal or part owners of their firms(otherwise known as entrepreneurs) was confirmed.It was found that work-family conflict negativelycorrelated with psychological adjustment. This impiiesthat when the respondents experience increase in work

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family-conflict, a corresponding decrease in their abilityto adjust psychologically exist. In other words, the morea lawyer experience higher work-family conflict as anentrepreneur, the less he/she is capable of coping withthe various physical and mental health challenges thatare contained in the psychological adjustmentoperationally defined in the present study. Previousstudies have confirmed this position. For example, Ijide(2013) reported that work and non-work balancesignificantly relates to military officers level ofwellbeing. The study also supports Rantanen (2008)longitudinal perspective on work-family interface andpsychological wellbeing and its revision which wentfurther to clarify workers into active, passive, beneficialand harmful balance depending on the person's copingmechanisms (Rantenen et al., 2011). The study hasalso found relationships between work-family conflictand psychological adjustment. This finding supports thepremise that increased work-family conflict can leadto increased (mental) health concerns and problemsthat reduce psychological adjustment capacity. Forexample, Kinnunen and Mauno (1998) found arelationship between increased work-family conflictand increased physical symptoms or somaticcomplaints. In a related study, Grandey and Cropanzano(1999) discovered relationships between work-familyconflict and overall physical health. Other researchers(e.g. Thomas & Ganster, 1995) have observed thatincreased work-family conflict is related to increaseddepression and other psychological issues. Also, Frone,Russell and Cooper (1993) observed that "Cross-sectional research provides consistent evidence thatwork-family conflict is positively associated with a hostof adverse health-related outcomes".

Substantial evidence illustrates the deleteriouseffects of work - family conflict. Particularly, theinterference or conflict between work demands andfamily life are associated with strain and dissatisfaction.Further, work - family conflict has been linked togreater health risks such as hypertension (Frone,Russell & Cooper, 1993), exhaustion, somatic

complaints, and alcoholism (Frone, Barnes & Farrell,1994). Correlates between work-family conflict andnegative psychological outcomes include depression(Frone, Russell &Barnes, 1996), diminished wellbeing(Hughes &Galinsky, 1994; Kinnunen & Mauno, 1998;Van Rijswijk, Bekker, Rutte & Croon, 2004), andlowered family and job satisfaction (Greenhaus &Granrose, 1992). The several previous positions thatshowed significant link between work-family conflictand dimensions of wellbeing lend support to the presentfinding that showed similar posi tion among lawyers inprivate practice. However, most of the previousfindings did not reflect entrepreneurs, particularly thosein the legal practice.

Indeed, past researches have made distinctionsbetween the types of inter-role conflicts - WFC andFWC with each having its own unique antecedentsand consequences as well (Frone et al., 1993). Forexample, researchers agree that the stressors fuelingwork - family conflict are domain - specific, that is,stress in the work domain contributes to WFC andstress in the family domain contributes to FWC(Kinnunen & Mauno, 1998). Correspondingly, eachdomain appears to have support factors that alleviatethe experience of WFC and FWC. Receivinginstrumental support such as chi Idcare or help withhousehold work reduces FWC (Grzywacz and Marks,2000). Social support factors in the workplace as wellas supportive work programs that encourage work-family balance help ease WFC. With regard toindividual-focused consequences of work-familyconflict, Frone (2000) and Frone et al. (1996) foundthat both WFC and FWC were positively related tomood disorders, anxiety, and substance dependencedisorders. However, FWC was more likely to correlatepositively to psychiatric disorders than WFC. In alongitudinal study by Frone, Russell et al. (1993), atbaseline, FWC and WFC were both related to highlevels of depression in a community sample, althoughFWC was also correlated with poor health. At follow-up, WFC and FWC were still both associated with

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elevated levels of depression. However, WFC wasrelated to heavy alcohol consumption and FWC wasrelated to poor physical health.

The hypothesis found a significant positiverelationship between job demand control andpsychological adjustment among lawyers as proposed.The finding showed that when entrepreneurs in lawpractice report capacity to exercise control over theirjob demands, they also report higher level ofpsychological adjustment to the vagaries of work.Specifically, the ability of the entrepreneurs in lawpractice to exercise significant measure of control overtheir job demands ultimately result in ability to copeeffectively and adjustment. This indicates that whenindividuals' job- demand control is low, their ability toeffectively adjust will be low as well. When thatprevails, the individual is exposed to challenges thatthat can affect coping and adjustment. Previous studiesprovide empirical support to the position adduced inthe present findings. The present findings support Ottuand Adekunle (2013) in their study that found universityworkers with high perceived work control reportinghigh work performance than workers with lowperceived work control. In their study, the workerswere able to balance family and work roles to createa feeling of control and wellbeing. The present positionis supported by the role-stress theory earlierpropounded by Kahn et al (1964). It states that if agiven set of social roles impose conflicting roleexpectations and pressures toward a focal person, itcan cause psychological conflict and role overload forthe individual. It is not surprising therefore that job-demand control showed a significant positiveassociation with psychological adjustment amongentrepreneurs in law practice.

The confirmation of the third hypothesis foundwork-family conflict and job demand control as showingsignificant combined prediction of psychologicaladjustment. The findings showed that psychologicaladjustment can be influenced by both job-demandcontrol and work family conflict. In a similar direction,

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previous studies have confirmed the position found inthe present study that covered entrepreneurs in privatelaw practice. For example, Kinnunen and Mauno(1998) found a relationship between increased work-family conflict and increased physical symptoms orsomatic complaints. Grandey and Cropanzano (1999)had earlier found significant relationships betweenwork-family conflict and overall physical health. Otherresearchers (Thomas & Ganster, 1995) also suggestedthat increased work-family conflict is related toincreased depression and other psychologicalpressures. The findings by Frone, Russell and Cooper(1993) lend support for the present findings as well.They observed in their "cross-sectional research thatwork-family conflict is positively associated with a hostof adverse health-related outcomes". Thepsychological adjustment of individuals is a majordimension of health-related outcomes. However, malelawyers in private practice did not report any significantdifference in their level of psychological wellbeing asenvisaged.

ConclusionThe present study set out to investigate work-familyconflict and job- demand control in their possibleinfluence on psychological adjustment among lawyersin private practice in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study hadincluded gender of participants, age and years of workexperience as possible factors that may play importantroles in adjustment of entrepreneurs in law practicebut none did. It has been established in the presentstudy that increase in work family conflict reducespsychological adjustment in the sample covered.Gender differences with respect to the sampledpopulation is not a significant moderating variable indefining lawyers susceptibility to high or low levels ofpsychological adjustment.

The implication of the findings is that lawyersin private practice do not have issues with psychologicaladjustment based on age, gender or length of practice.Rather, balance in work-family demands and capacity

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to control job demand play more significant roles intheir psychological adjustment. A majorrecommendation therefore, is that in order to continuallyimprove on the psychological adjustment oflawyers inprivate practice it is important to incorporate copingskills on maintaining work-family life balance duringself development training programmes. It is alsoimportant to lay emphasis on exercising control overthe demands on the job of private practice for lawyers.This has been found to have a direct link withadjustment.

Future researchers in the areas covered bythis study are encouraged to increase the sample andscope as well as consider some other dispositional andsituational factors because those involved in the presentstudy only account for 21% to the prediction ofpsychological adjustment. A major limit~ti0n in thepresent study is that entrepreneurs in law practice thatoperate in other cities in Nigeria were not covered.When larger sample and dimensions are covered,generalisation would be enhanced.

Nevertheless, the present study has providedan empirical position for the inclusion of psychologicaladjustment of lawyers in private practice to the bodyof literature on entrepreneurship and adjustment. It isexpected that the outcome of this study will stimulateincreased interest in the area covered by the research.

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Biographical NoteJ. O. Ekore, Ph.D, is a senior lecturer in the Department ofPsychology University of Ibadan, lbadan Nigeria. His majorresearch interests include; Industrial Psychology.

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