Mobile phone adoption and marriages: a study of Nairobi families

Abstract

The inception of this research was informed by the numerous media reports of marital challenges and breakups that included issues related with mobile phone usage. A popular column by Phillip Kitoto in the Daily Nation newspaper has continually posted questions from aggrieved spouses and relationship partners seeking counsel on relationship matters. Conspicuously standing out are the many people who link their relationship problems to the mobile phone either questioning their spouses or partner's mobile phone behavior that arouses suspicion regarding their fidelity, or claims that they discovered their spouse's cheating from mobile phone text messages or suspicious phone calls.

This study therefore examines the effect of mobile phone adoption on marriages. The study explores the effect of mobile phone adoption on marriages in Kenya and seeks to find out whether the mobile phone has contributed to breakups and increased strife in marriages. It involves a survey conducted in Nairobi - Kenya's Capital - involving a population of married individuals, professional counselors and religious leaders.