Unpacking young adults’ experiences of race- and gender-based microaggressions

Abstract

To date the majority of the research on microaggressions has focused on the experiences of targets, rather than the perpetrators, of microaggresive behaviors. The present study set out to investigate 278 college students’ ( Mage = 19.12, SD = 1.34, 52.52% cisgender women, 74.82% European American) reported types of experience (a) unaware, b) aware, c) observer, d) perpetrator, and e) target) with race- and gender-based microaggressive behaviors and the association between their experiences and ambivalent sexist and color-blind racial attitudes. Participants completed an online survey composed of a modified Racial and Ethnic Microaggression Scale (REMS), a modified Female Microaggression Scale (FMS), an Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, and a Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale. As hypothesized, participants were more likely to have heard of or seen than to report having been the target or perpetrator of microaggressions. In support of our second hypothesis, significant gender and race differences were found in the frequencies of type of exposure to microaggressions. Finally, as expected, exposure to microaggressions was associated with color-blind and ambivalent sexist attitudes. Unexpectedly, however, complete unawareness of the existence of microaggressions was not associated with social attitudes. This study’s findings highlight the importance of unpacking social experiences of discrimination to better understand what types of experiences contribute to being critical of and reducing the commission of microaggressions.

Assessing the Prevalence of Microaggressions in Plastic Surgery Training: A National Survey

“…12,[22][23][24] Racial microaggressions in form of messages that assume inferiority, criminality, and sameness have been described. 2,25,26 Chisholm et al 22 reported that under-represented racial minorities were significantly more likely to experience race-related microaggressions during medical school. Similar results were reported in surgeons and anesthesiologists, in which race-related microaggressions were experienced in 81% of racial-minority physicians.…”

White American students’ recognition of racial microaggressions in higher education.

“…Participants were recruited as part of a larger study investigating college students’ experiences and attitudes toward race and gender-based microaggressions (see Midgette & Mulvey, 2021). Participants were recruited Fall of 2019 from a large public Southeastern PWI using the psychology department undergraduate subject pool.…”

When fairness and group loyalty conflict: Social exclusion, prejudice, and bias in adolescence and early adulthood.

“…Research documents the importance of attending not only to explicit, overt forms of bullying and aggression but also to the role of microaggressions, which are subtle or indirect statements or acts that communicate harmful, negative messages about one' s group (e.g., one' s gender or racial group; Nadal, 2011). Findings with early adults suggest that individuals vary quite a bit in their recognition of microaggressions but that one' s experiences with microaggressions (either as a victim or even through observing microaggressions) shape one' s racial and gender attitudes (Midgette & Mulvey, 2021).…”