Gender Roles, Emotional Attachment and Culture Among Young Couples in Globalizing Nigeria

Abstract Marriage is a major institution in Africa. While globalization continues to play key roles in marital relations among young people/youth, context of marriage and gender provides cultural avenues to examine the mutabilities and immutabilities of culture in the age of globalization. While works exist globally on the intersections of youth, love and emotions, very few studies exist on these issues in African societies where gender and culture play significant roles in moderating social relations in marriages. It is against this background that this article, based on qualitative research conducted in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria in 2025, answers the following questions; 1. What is the reality at the intersection of globalization, culture and gender roles? 2. What can be learnt from the relationship between emotional attachment, frustration and conflict? Findings reveal the increasing mutability, negotiation and context-dependence gender roles in marriages of young couples with globalization playing definitive roles. Young couples continue to live and negotiate their agency relative to emotional attachment within specific cultural remit, even as globalization increasingly play active roles. While factoring globalization into their everyday relational calculus, young couples continue to play gender roles as they seek intimacy, belongingness, freedom and stability without abandoning culture but renegotiating and redefining it.