The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology

Abstract

Since the publication of Sue et al. (Am Psychol 62:271–286, 2007a, b) seminal article, there has been an enormous scholarly interest in psychology on this construct of racial microaggressions—subtle everyday experiences of racism. In this paper, we provide a review of racial microaggressions research literature in psychology since 2007, following the publication of the first comprehensive taxonomy of racial microaggressions, which provided a conceptual framework and directions for research related to racial microaggressions. However, our review suggests that important conceptual and methodological issues remain to be addressed in the three domains: (1) what are racial microaggressions and who do they impact; (2) why are racial microaggressions important to examine; and (3) how are racial microaggressions currently studied and how might we improve the methodologies used to study racial microaggressions. We propose recommendations to further facilitate racial microaggressions research, improve the scientific rigor of racial microaggressions research, and contribute toward a more complete and sophisticated understanding of the concept and consequences of racial microaggressions—a construct that is undoubtedly salient and psychologically relevant among many members of racial minority groups.

Racial microaggressions and perceptions of Internet memes

“…Replicating previous research (see Wong et al, 2013, for a review) every Person of Color in our sample reported experiencing at least one racial microaggression over the previous six months.…”

“…More generally, the cumulative experience of racial microaggressions is related to reduced positive affect, and increased depressive and somatic symptoms (Donovan et al, 2012;Huyng, 2012;Nadal, Griffin, Wong, Hamit, & Rasmus, 2014). Thus, like more blatant forms of discrimination (see Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009, for a review), experiencing racial microaggressions can be detrimental to one's mental and physical health both immediately within the same 24-hour period and cumulatively over time (see Wong et al, 2013, for a review).…”

“…For example, Whites report more difficulty in determining the offensiveness of an ambiguous prejudicial comment as compared to a more overt instance of racial discrimination (Zou & Dickter, 2013). However, People of Color are aware of racial microaggressions; they report experiencing this subtle discrimination frequently across a wide variety of domains (see Wong et al, 2013, for a review) to a greater extent than their White counterparts (Nadal et al, 2014). Due to previous personal experience with racial microaggressions, People of Color may become more sensitive to signs of racial bias and readily attribute these actions to racism (Dovidio et al, 2002).…”

“…As noted by Wong et al (2013), more experimental studies are needed in order to better understand the factors that may contribute to how People of Color (and other individuals holding positions lower in power; Sue et al, 2007) construe possible transgressions in their environment. By presenting our participants with one type of environmental microaggression, racial themed Internet memes (Clark et al, 2011;Sue et al, 2007;Tynes & Markoe, 2010;Tynes et al, 2013), we provide the first evidence that previous experiences with racial microaggressions may lead to an increased sensitivity to future transgressions in their environments, including online contexts.…”

“There is soccer but we have to watch”: the embodied consequences of rhetorics of inclusion for South African children with cerebral palsy

“…Although discourses of inclusion may be drawn on to promote the image of formerly White schools as zones of equality and respect for diversity, exclusion and marginalisation of Black children continue (Sayed & Soudien, 2003), but may be difficult to address and think about because the language of inclusion is prominently used. Discrimination and exclusion are difficult to name and address in contexts where there is a dominant discourse of equality, as the international research on what are termed ‘microaggressions’ has shown (Sue, 2013; Wong, Derthick, David, Saw, & Okazaki, 2014). SA is not unique in having moved beyond a situation in which overt racism is no longer tolerated but in which, despite official non-racial and an-tiracist policies, subtle but keenly experienced practices of exclusion persist (Allen, Scott, & Lewis, 2013; Conradie & Brokensha, 2014).…”