Gender Differences in Value Orientations, Levels of Socio-Cultural Adjustment, and Satisfaction on the Part of North Korean Defectors
AUTHOR : 진미정
INFORMATION : page. 139~157 / 2008 Vol.15 No.1
ABSTRACT
As the number of female North Korean Defectors increases, their ability to adjust to their changed circumstances has increasingly become an important social and academic issue. This study attempts to examine how the levels of socio-adjustment and satisfaction on the part of North Korea defectors differs according to gender and whether such gender differences are mediated by a series of value orientations. T tests, paired t tests, and regression analysis were the primary methods used for statistical analysis of the survey data, and the sample consisted of 111 women and 84 men from North Korea. This study found that men experienced greater changes in the level of materialism, collectivism, familism, and traditional gender role attitudes since leaving North Korea. Whereas men experienced more problems in terms of their socio-cultural adjustment, they also exhibited higher levels of life satisfaction. However, the gender differences in terms of both adjustment and satisfaction tended to disappear after controlling the series of values. Overall, the results indicate that North Korean female defectors tend to be more adept in their degree of socio-cultural adjustment than their male counterparts.