Open Access

ARTICLE

Academic major satisfaction in a sample of Nigerian university students

Martin F. Asiegbu¹, Chidiebere Wisdom Obioha², Simeon C. Dimonye¹, Ekenechukwu Anazor Anikpe^3,*, John Chidubem Nwaogaidu⁴, Charles Kenechukwu Okoro¹, Uzochukwu Chukwuka Chinweze², JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji^2,5,6

1 Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu, Nigeria
2 Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu, Nigeria
3 Department of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu, Nigeria
4 Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu, Nigeria
5 Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, Michigan State University, Flint Michigan, MI 48502, USA
6 Promotion of Health and Innovation (PHI) Lab, International Network for Well-Being, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu, Nigeria

* Corresponding Author: Ekenechukwu Anazor Anikpe. Email:

Journal of Psychology in Africa 2025, 35(3), 345-353. https://doi.org/10.32604/jpa.2025.067166

Received 23 November 2024; Accepted 16 April 2025; Issue published 31 July 2025

Abstract

Despite the increasing enrolment in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa, the systematic understanding of students’ academic major satisfaction in these contexts has not received significant research interest. We examined the academic major satisfaction of students in the Nigerian context by the sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Participants were 452 students from Fine and Applied Arts (FAA, n = 207, 32.9% female, mean age = 20.86, SD = 3.40) and philosophy (n = 245, 42.9% female, mean age = 21.43, SD = 3.38 years) at a large Nigerian public university. They completed the Basic Needs Satisfaction Scale and the Academic Major Satisfaction Scale, as well as a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results following regression analysis and post-hoc t-tests indicated that while FAA students were more satisfied with their major than those in philosophy overall. Philosophy students reported significantly higher relatedness than the FAA students. FAA students did not rate autonomy and competence higher than Philosophy students. Within academic majors, high autonomy was associated with greater academic major satisfaction for only FAA students, whereas FAA and Philosophy students with high competence and relatedness reported increased academic major satisfaction. Findings suggest students self-determine their academic major satisfaction in the Nigerian educational setting by primarily autonomy and competence considerations.

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Keywords

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