Table 4. Examples of Microaggression Theme Pathologizing cultural values/ communication styles The notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant/White culture are ideal. Second-class citizen Occurs when a White person is given preferential treatment as a consumer over a person of color.
Example of Microaggression
Message
Asking a Black person: “Why do you have to be so loud/animated? Just calm down.”
Assimilate to the dominant culture.
Being ignored at a store counter as attention is given to the White customer behind you.
Whites are more valued customers than people of color.
Standard of beauty
“She is pretty for a Black girl.”
Only non-African Americans should be perceived as beautiful.
Alien in own land When racial/ethnic groups are assumed to be foreign-born. Color blindness Statements that indicate that a White person does not want to acknowledge race. Denial of individual racism A statement made when Whites deny their racial biases. Myth of meritocracy Statements that assert that race does not play a role in life successes.
“Where are you really from?” “You speak good English.”
You are not American.
“When I look at you, I do not see color.” “There is only one race, the human race.”
Denying a person of color’s racial/ ethnic experiences.
“I am not a racist. I have several Black friends.”
I am immune to races because I have friends of color.
“I believe the most qualified person should get the job.”
People of color are given extra unfair benefits because of their race.
Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has spent years researching and writing books on the effects of microaggressions. Nadal (2020) states, “You do not have to be of a certain group to understand something is unjust. It is really about learning how to be empathetic to people. Moreover, to be aware and knowledgeable of history. This country is founded on racism toward Indigenous people and racism toward Black people, and that’s not new” (Limbong, 2020). Nadal reports that people of color are often asked to educate White people on issues that they person of color has lived with and thought about for their entire lives (Limbong, 2020). That can be psychologically and emotionally exhausting for a person to care about the White person’s feelings and make those extra efforts so that they can learn something that they should have and could have learned throughout their life. Nadal suggests that people with privileged identities who want to be true allies should initiate doing their work. People with privileged identities should accept that it is their job and responsibility to engage in uncomfortable conversations and emotions. In doing so, people of color, women, or LGBTQ folks will not have to have those conversations for you (Limbong, 2020). Are microaggressions a result of aggression? Could microaggressions constitute a form of aggression? If we conceptualize microaggressions as isolated, unintended individual events, it seems counterintuitive that they represent hostility or aggression. Microaggressions represent a behavior pattern reinforcing a social hierarchy whereby outgroup members are cast in a subordinate position (Williams, 2020b). Those who experience microaggressions would be wise to recognize these signals of danger being emitted by offenders and exercise caution (Williams, 2020b) because if microaggressions reflect hostile and aggressive tendencies, it may be socially dangerous for victims to confront offenders. Microaggressions have been associated with mental health outcomes. Research has indicated that racial microaggressions are associated with increased mental health symptoms among Blacks. Recent reveals that microaggressions were associated with increased endorsement of PTSD symptoms.
Distress associated with invisibility microaggressions was also associated with increased PTSD symptoms above and beyond microaggression frequency (Abdullah et al., 2021). Thus, not only are microaggressions disturbing to those that are victims, these experiences with microaggressions may contribute to trauma for these victims. Microaggressions also pose a barrier to mental health care when committed by mental health providers and have been implicated as a cause of mental health disparities. The types of prejudice and perceived stigma associated with microaggressions have also been found to impact minorities adversely and correlate with mental health problems (Cruz et al., 2019). Cruz et al. (2019) wanted to examine if patient perceptions of racial microaggressions during visits with healthcare providers would positively correlate with psychological distress. They found that participants felt their doctors held negative stereotypes about their racial/cultural groups. Participants in the study also reported that physicians were culturally insensitive and avoided addressing diversity in their medical encounters. These findings suggest that people of color are highly attuned to the racial/ cultural contexts in their interactions with healthcare providers, likely because of past experiences with racism as a chronic stressor that is not limited to isolated interactions (Cruz et al., 2019). They also found that racial microaggressions correlated with depression and anxiety as psychological stress (Cruet et al. al, 2019). An interesting finding of this research was that participants who reported some college exposure reported higher levels of perceived healthcare microaggressions than participants who completed either high school or college (Cruz et al., 2019).
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