Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the effects of information poverty on North Korean refugees’ social adaptation to South Korea based on Chatman’s Theory of Information Poverty (1996). Based on the Theory of Information Poverty, information poverty consists of four variables: Secrecy, Deception, Risk-taking, and information acceptance in response to situational relevance. And based on the previous studies, adaptation to South Korean life is divided into social adaptation and psychological adaptation. From August 4 to August 30, 2021, after approval by the IRB through the North Korean refugee support organization <Urion>, surveys were conducted with North Korean refugees who had lived in South Korea for at least one year and were aged 19 or older. The 100 collected valid data were analyzed using frequency analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. Findings of the study indicated that information poverty had significant effects on North Korean refugees’ social and psychological adaptation. In particular, the “deception” variable had negative effects on social and psychological adaptation. The study has theoretical implications that it explains North Korean refugees’ adaptation to South Korea based on Theory of Information Poverty by defining them as information poor. Above all, it attempts a quantitative approach through operationalization of key concepts unlike previous studies that were conducted with qualitative approaches.