Understanding Microaggressions: Definitions and Impact
Microaggressions are subtle offenses that impact marginalized groups, traced back to foundational theories and contemporary implications.
What is this page about?
An explainer of microaggressions, tracing the concept from Chester Pierce's coinage through Derald Wing Sue's taxonomy of microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations. It reviews the research evidence on prevalence, associations with psychological wellbeing, physiological markers, and workplace effects, the accumulated-harm mechanism, and Scott Lilienfeld's methodological critique, aiming to hold both the documented experiences and the scientific debate at once, with guidance on navigating microaggressions whether you experience or commit one.
What has been corrected on this page?
Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.
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2 corrections applied: Bezrukova et al. diversity-training meta-analysis was published in 2016, not 2019. | Same wrong date for Bezrukova et al.; correct year is 2016.
BeforeA 2019 meta-analysis by Bezrukova and colleagues in Psychological Bulletin... / Larger and more durable behavior change (Bezrukova et al., 2019)
AfterA 2016 meta-analysis by Bezrukova and colleagues in Psychological Bulletin... / Larger and more durable behavior change (Bezrukova et al., 2016)
Why: Verified live: both the body-text mention and the training-comparison table already correctly say 2016, matching the bibliography entry. The FAQ does not mention Bezrukova at all, so no secondary fix was needed.
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