Racial microaggressions: Identifying factors affecting perceived severity and exploring strategies to reduce harm

Abstract

Microaggressions are speech or actions constituting indirect, subtle, or unintentional acts of discrimination, and awareness of their harmful effects has grown in recent years. Increased awareness could improve inter-group interactions, but also poses challenges. Fear of misspeaking, or fear of being subject to microaggressions can stifle interactions. We investigated how people from different racial and ethnic groups and political orientations judge the severity of various forms of racial microaggressions, and we tested a specific strategy to mitigate the harm of racial microaggressions. Specifically, in Experiment 1, White participants (WP) and participants of colour (POC) rated the severity of various microaggressions (depicted in vignettes). Participants also reported their political orientation and strength of racial/ethnic identity. Regardless of racial/ethnic group, left-leaning political orientation was associated with higher perceived severity of racial microaggressions. Furthermore, severity ratings from POC were higher for those who identified more strongly with their ethnic/racial group. In Experiment 2, we again obtained severity ratings, but we used microaggression vignettes that were manipulated to reveal the source s mindset as either reparatory and open-minded (ROM), or not. Critically, severity ratings were significantly lower for vignettes in which ROM was messaged. The importance of these results is twofold. First, they reveal that political orientation can override other factors like racial group membership when judging the severity of racial microaggressions, and second, they show that augmenting problematic speech with information about mindset, can mitigate perceived harm. Overall, this work contributes to a richer understanding of microaggressions, and has implications for theory and practice.