A Correlational Analysis of Multi-Cultural Education and Religious Tolerance among Undergraduate Social Studies Students in Delta and Edo States

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between multicultural education and religious tolerance among undergraduate Social Studies students in Delta and Edo States, Nigeria. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses tested at a 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive correlational survey design was adopted to examine how exposure to multicultural education influences students' attitudes toward religious diversity. The population comprised all 573 undergraduate Social Studies students across four public universities in Delta and Edo States: Delta State University, Abraka; University of Delta, Agbor; University of Benin, Benin City; and Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. Due to the manageable size of the population, no sampling was employed; the entire population participated in the study. Data were collected using a researcher-designed structured instrument titled Multicultural Education and Religious Tolerance Questionnaire (MERT-Q), which included sections on demographics, multicultural education, and religious tolerance. The instrument was validated by experts and yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.82 after pilot testing. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics including regression and multiple regression analyses using SPSS version 25. Findings revealed a strong and statistically significant relationship between multicultural education and religious tolerance (R = 0.97, R² = 0.94), indicating that multicultural education accounted for 94% of the variance in students’ religious tolerance levels. Gender had no significant moderating effect, while location was found to significantly influence the relationship, with students in urban areas displaying higher tolerance levels. The study concluded that multicultural education is a powerful predictor of religious tolerance and recommended that Social Studies educators integrate value-based multicultural content, especially in rural institutions, to bridge tolerance gaps. Educational policies should also institutionalize multicultural education as a strategy for promoting social harmony and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria’s pluralistic society.