Abstract

This study examined Nigerian undergraduates’ perception of their home environment as a predictor of character development and self-efficacy disposition. Three research questions were raised and answered. A survey research design approach was adopted, while participants were randomly selected from three randomly selected public universities in the Southwest states of Nigeria. Approximately 165 undergraduate students that cut across different academic programmes were selected from each of the universities, using a stratified random sampling technique. In all, a total of 500 students participated in the study. The participants comprised an almost equal percentage of male and female students; with a larger percentage (47.9) falling in the 21–25 age category. They are well represented from the three selected universities (35.4%, 33.3% and 31.3% respectively). Majority of the students (89.6%) are having a single marital status, while a negligible percent (10.4) are married. A greater number of participants (130) are studying the science programme, followed by social science (90) and other disciplines (80). Home Environment, Character Formation, and Sell-Efficacy questionnaires were used to collect data. The data was subjected to simple percentage and Pearson product moment correlation. A greater percent of the participants (72%, 71%, 70% and 67% respectively) agreed that the home environment is instrumental in character development and self-efficacy disposition of tertiary institution students. Also, another substantial number (64%) indicated that assertive skills and being proactive in thinking are products of positive home experiences. All these point to the fact that the participants realised and acknowledged the role of home environment in the positive upbringing of future leaders. Also, there was a strong positive relationship (p = 0.000) between the home background variable and character development of undergraduate students in Nigerian universities (r = 0.59, p < .05). This result implies that the more positive and supportive a home experience appears, the greater the likelihood of robust character development. Likewise, the poorer the home experience background of a child, the greater is chance of poor character formation, and a strong positive relationship (p = 0.000) existed between the home background variable and the level of self-efficacy disposition of undergraduate students in Nigerian universities (r = 0.59, p < .05). It was recommended that the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education Management Boards devise urgent means through which members of the public can be sensitised on role of home environment in effective character formation and high self-efficacy level of future leaders.