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Abstract
This study empirically examines how South Korean citizens form and their attitudes toward refugee acceptance, focusing on the interaction between perceived understanding (subjective cognition) and factual knowledge. Specifically, it investigates how the mismatch between these two components—and their combined typology—affects changes in acceptance under different contextual framings. The findings reveal that refugee acceptance is not rooted in fixed ideological or moral orientations, but rather represents a conditional attitude shaped by information context and question framing. When concrete scenarios such as “war or persecution” are presented, respondents show a significantly higher likelihood of acceptance, particularly among those with both high perceived understanding and high factual knowledge. This suggests that public attitudes toward refugees are constructed not through stable value commitments alone, but through the interplay of information level, emotional proximity, and the way refugee issues are framed. These results highlight the importance of communication strategies that go beyond simple information delivery and incorporate emotional resonance and contextual relevance to improve public receptivity to refugee policy.
BibTeX citation
@article{Lim:2025,
Author = {Yoojin Lim, and Sanghoon Park},
Journal = {Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences},
Number = {2},
Pages = {5--30},
Title = {Beyond Yes or No: Cognitive-Knowledge Gap and Conditional Refugee Attitudes in South Korea},
Volume = {68},
Year = {2025}}