This study was carried out to examine the influence of social values orientation on marital stability among heads of department (HODs) in higher institutions of learning in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study relied on the Role Theory on Marital Adjustment by William G. Dyer (1998) and Hill’s family stress theory (1949). The problem this study sought Res Militaris, vol.13, n°3, March Spring 2023 1913 to solve was marital instability among heads of departments in higher institutions of learning. Based on this, a research question and a hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted the ex-post factor research design. The purposive and accidental sampling techniques were employed to select a sample of 400 HODs for the study from a population of 1562. A self-developed questionnaire titled “Social Values Orientation and Marital Stability Questionnaire (SVOMSQ)" was used in collecting data on variables involved in the study. The One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis at a .