SENIOR THESIS RMAS

PERCEPTION IS REALITY 1

Perception is Reality:

Racial Microaggressions Towards Students of Color at Historically White Institutions

Ashley R. Delgadillo

Menlo College

Thesis PSY401


Abstract

Racial microaggressions are subtle verbal or behavioral acts that discriminate against people of

color. This literature review evaluates, critiques, and makes recommendations for the field of

study of racial microaggressions towards students of color at historically White institutions. This

review hypothesizes that as findings of racial microaggressions towards students of color

increase so do reports of negative college experiences and mental health issues from students of

color. Themes found in the literature so far pertain to personal experiences, mental health, and

coping. Student experiences are explored to investigate if and how students need to cope and

deal with mental distresses. The literature review wishes to answer the questions of how racial

microaggressions impact the mental health and college experience of students of color and how

the results can be applied in colleges to create a beneficial college experience. In the absence of

strong correlations and variances, concluding that racial microaggressions has a strong impact on

the mental health and coping habits of students of color at historically White institutions is

difficult; however the data is suggestive with significant findings albeit weak correlational

relationships. The practicality of implications is worth reviewing if there is a possibility of

helping students of color feel more welcome at their school. Recommendations based on the

current research find that because the field is so new, psychologists must continue testing for

valid instruments and that spaces for social support on campus for students of color should be

considered.

Search Terms: Racial microaggressions, historically White institutions, mental health,

higher education, microaggressions, university, college


An African American student attending an elite Predominantly White Institution (PWI)

recalls his experience during a focus group when a group of his Black friends and he were

tossing a football around in a campus parking lot:

…all of a sudden, [campus police] sweeps up…There’s a total of four or five cars, and

then we have two cops on the bikes, all there for us who are not displaying any type of

violence or anything like that…but we’re upset…we’re feeling restricted because if we

act in a way that we want to react – number one, we’re going to jail; number two – it’s

just going to feed into the stereotype that we’re supposed to be violent…they were not

trying to hear us at all. We had to leave the parking lot…Once again, it reminded me I’m

a Black man [on a predominantly White campus]. (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2001, 69)

Incidences like those above, where students of color feel a perceived threat because of their race,

are not uncommon, especially at Historically White Institutions (HWI) (Bentley-Edwards &

Chapman-Hilliard, 2014; Harwood, Huntt, Mendenhall, & Lewis, 2012).

When the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) from the University of Oklahoma was

captured on video singing a racist chant, there was quick outrage and backlash that led to

immediate expulsion of the fraternity members (Alter, 2015). A longitudinal study from 1972 to

2012, conducted by San Diego State University and University of Georgia, discovered that while

tolerance for “out-groups,” such as communists and homosexuals, has seen an increase, tolerance

for racists has not (Alter, 2015). Overall, there seems to be a consensus among experts that overt

racial discrimination, or at least the tolerance of it, has greatly declined since the days of Martin

Luther King Jr. (Wong, Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013); however, subtler forms of racial

discrimination continue to exist, and research on this subtler form of discrimination has grown


remarkably in less than a decade thanks to foundational research by Sue and his colleagues (Sue,

Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, 2007).

These subtler forms of race discrimination are called ‘racial microaggressions’ and can be

experienced anywhere- at work (Pittman, 2012), in public spaces (Harwood, Huntt, Mendenhall,

& Lewis, 2012), in schools (Nadal, Wong, Griffin, Sriken, & 2011) - and at any time (Pierce,

1989). There are many types of microaggressions, in the context of many spaces, and it is

difficult to talk about one aspect of identity without talking about another (Pascoe & Richman,

2009). For example, one may not only study what it means to be Black, but a Black woman; not

only what it means to be Latino, but a Latino who is gay. Torres, Jones, and Renn (2009) explain

that intersectionality is when individuals have multiple oppressed identities and therefore,

experience multiple types of combined discrimination (as cited in Nadal, Mazzula, Rivera, &

Fujii-Doe, 2014). For example, a woman may experience slights not only because of her sex, but

because she is also a lesbian with low social economic status (SES). For literature that does

focus on the intersectionality in microaggressions, one could refer to Derald Wing Sue’s book,

Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation (2010).

While there are multiple factors that determine the types of microaggressions people face

daily (Pascoe &Richman, 2009), the focus of this paper is on students of color at Historically

White Institutions and the microaggressions they face in the context of their schools. The

purpose of this paper is to make critiques and recommendations from the current literature in

hopes that it will point out strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, the purpose is also for

application by schools, so they can manage and create a positive racial climate that is welcoming

to students of color. Hence, the current research questions for this topic are: firstly, how do racial

microaggressions impact the mental health and college experience of students of color? And how


can this information be applied in colleges to facilitate a positive college experience? I

hypothesize that the more experience with, and awareness of, racial microaggressions a student

of color has, the more likely there will be a positive correlation with mental health problems (i.e.

as racial microaggression experiences go up, so do mental health problems like depression,

anxiety, or stress) and reports of negative college experiences.

Racial microaggressions are daily occurrences that can be hidden in the smallest of

interactions and whose invisibility (Sue, 2004) continues to make it appear as if the reality of

racial differences did not exist (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino, 2008). Over time, these

‘small’ occurrences can build up and become destructive to racial minorities as the subtle

comments and actions become exhausting to encounter and impair performance (Wong,

Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013).

Methods and Themes

Using PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES, Google Scholar, and EBSCO I was able to find

much of my research; I was fortunate to find my readings so easily at the start. I wasn’t too

specific in the beginning with choosing how to limit my search. I began with limiting the dates

and having only articles published in 1990 and later, and then printing the articles that were

available in full text. My first search terms were rather general and broad; simply using words

from the current title of this paper (such as microaggressions and historically White institutions).

As I learned of areas that I felt were missing (such as quantitative research) or needed more

clarification of ideas (like critical race theory), I added them to my search and was able to find

what I needed. Moreover, I went through the references of the articles I printed and circled all

possible readings I could use, placing a star next to the citation that might be really important.


When I felt like the databases weren’t giving me what I needed, I looked through my circled and

starred references and started searching for specific articles.

Ultimately, the top search terms I used were: racial microaggressions, microaggressions,

historically White institutions, historically Black college and universities, college, university,

mental health, predominantly White institutions, racial climate, coping, mental health, and higher

education. Along the way, I had a meeting with my librarian to help me find foundational

authors that weren’t just D. W. Sue (2007, 2008). With her help I was able to find the ‘anchor

authors’ such as Pierce (1986), Nadal (With Wong, Sriken, Griffin, 2014) and Solórzano (2001),

who appear to be the most frequently cited authors.

After reading an abundance of articles, I began to wonder why there wasn’t a universal

racial microaggression scale and to question the validity and reliability of those that did exist. I

searched on Google Scholar for the two most common scales I had seen: The Racial and Ethnic

Microaggression Scale (REMS) (Nadal, 2011) and the Racial Microaggression Scale (RMAS)

(Torres-Harding, Andrade, & Diaz, 2012). After reading the articles, I realized I should begin to

keep track of all the instruments each article used and therefore began writing all the instruments

each article used on the paper’s title page. Along with that, I also wrote down key words,

definitions, and ideas that made the article useful on the front of the page. For example, if the

article was talking about intersectionality, I wrote ‘intersectionality’ on the first page of the

article to find the concept faster and more easily.

After each paper evaluation and edit by the thesis professor, I applied the proper

corrections to the paper. I then began using Microsoft Word’s ‘comment’ tool in the review

section to make notes of what the professor and I found lacking. Next, I mapped out which

sections could use more citations and wrote on a separate paper what citations I did need. For


example, after mapping out more of what I needed, I figured out I wanted an article about racial

climate to refer to when discussing the topic. I went back to articles I liked and picked out related

articles to the topic I was looking for. Following the final rough draft checked by thesis professor

Mark Hager, corrections were made and I turned in my draft to Marianne Marar, a social science

professor with a focus in race-relations, to inspect my paper for accurate knowledge and

understanding of the subject. Lowell Pratt, an English and humanities professor, was the final

editor who reviewed my grammar and punctuation, and flow of ideas.

Certain articles that I read had to be excluded, such as Gilborn’s (2008) article that was

England based and Erasmus’s (2010) paper that was based in South Africa. While interesting and

germane to the idea of microaggressions, the information was in the context of different

countries. For the purpose of this paper, all information comes from universities and colleges

within the United States. The decision to do so comes from the fact that each country has its own

history and culture, and therefore focusing on the idea of perceived discrimination globally

would complicate the concept of microaggression and what it means to be a ‘person of color’.

Nonetheless, Rollock’s (2011) article, although British, makes some fine points about racial

microaggressions in America, such as her discussion about ‘Whiteness’ in the workplace.

While reading and critiquing articles, the three themes my analysis has found so far are

experience, mental health, and coping. Experience is the theme that emerged the strongest as, in

essence, microaggressions are something that is encountered; thus qualitative and quantitative

work focuses on past events that happened to the individual of color and their thoughts and

feelings. The mental health theme emerged in quantitative articles attempting to correlate racial

microaggression experiences to negative health consequences such as stress, depression, and

anxiety. Coping appeared during discussions when a facilitator would ask his or her participants


in a focus group or interview how they dealt with racial microaggressions and/or difficult

dialogue. Thus, while reading and annotating all the articles, I made a note on the title page of

what type of reading it was (quantitative, qualitative, theory, history, or literature review) and

under which theme of experience, mental health, and coping, it fit best.

Literature Review

Researchers credit Chester M. Pierce as coining the term ‘microaggression’ back in the

1970s, which then referred only to the inequity, injustice, and racial slights that Black Americans

faced daily (Wong, Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013). A Black psychiatrist in the 1950s, Pierce

tells the story of how the idea of microaggressions came to him as “wherever [he] went,

whatever [he] did, and with whomever [he worked], [his] never-ending preoccupation had to be

on how to survive as a Black” (Pierce, 1986, 301). Today, two popular definitions of racial

microaggressions have been widely accepted and are frequently in use. After Pierce’s definition,

racial microaggressions were described as “subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual)

directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously” (Solórzano, Ceja, &

Yosso, 2001, 60). The term was then expanded to mean “brief and commonplace daily verbal,

behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate

hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights toward people of color” (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino,

& Bucceri, 2007, 271).

‘People of color’ (POC) is a term often used within the area of social justice issues to

refer to the group of individuals “from minority racial and ethnic groups as a whole” (Forrest-

Bank, Jenson, & Trecartin, 2015, 2). While it may seem questionable to take different groups of

people, turn them into a monolith, and juxtapose them with White Americans, doing so in the

context of examining race allows for inclusion of all racial target groups. ‘People of color’ also is


representative of the social construct of what it means to be a Non- White American (Sue,

Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino, 2008) which is in theory important to the composition of racial

microaggressions.

With his rebirthing the area of study (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, & Bucceri, 2007), Sue

was able to bring back a term to define the experiences of target groups. In his search of cause

and effects of discrimination, he realized that ‘color blindness’ perpetuated the belief of

sameness and equality (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino, 2008). Sue (2004) defines color

blindness as a denial of racial differences and of the unfair power imbalance that exists in

society. Rothenburg’s (2002) work indicates that many White students pretend not to see color

because they don’t want to seem biased or racist (as cited in Sue, 2004). What ‘color blind’

students don’t know is that their refusal to see color denies racial minorities of their experiential

reality by “minimizing the effects of racism and discrimination in their day-to-day lives” (Sue,

2004, 763). Hence, in denying that any differences exist, perpetuators impose microaggressions

because they are invalidating the culture, identity, experience, and reality of a person of color.

Despite increases of diversity on college campuses in the past decade (Rodgers &

Summers, 2008), researchers have suggested that students of color experience the campus

climate quite differently compared to White students (Worthington, Navarro, Loewy, & Hart,

2008). Quite often, students of color report experiencing the ‘paradox of invisibility,’ where they

are either ignored or only seen and treated as a stereotype (McCabe, 2009). Neville et al. (1997)

theorize that individuals who are more susceptible to and/or aware of racial issues can identify

culture specific stressors to a greater extent. With that being said, Boysen and colleagues (2009)

found that undergraduate students frequently perceived subtle biases more often than did


professors, demonstrating how racial microaggressions may not only be invisible to non-target

students, but to teachers as well.

Experiencing and Recalling Microaggressions

In an interview with NPR, Derald Wing Sue commented that he is happy to find that the

concept of microaggressions are being shared among college campuses and that the word has

caught on (Mehrotra, 2014). He explains in the interview that the word ‘microaggression’ has

most likely caught on because it gives a name to the experiences students are having in college

(as cited in Desmond-Harrison, 2015b). Indeed, in the past 5 years students from multiple

colleges have created diversity projects portraying the landscape of what it’s like to be a student

of color, the most notable being “I, too, am Harvard” (Desmond-Harrison, 2015a). Palmer,

Davis, and Maramba (2010) argue that positive adjustment and development depend on the

social environment students are placed in (as cited in Bentley-Edwards & Chapman-Hilliard,

2014). Hence, when students of color come into a negative college environment that causes them

to have hurtful experiences, it’s important to record the occurrences to demonstrate that

microaggressions are happening and affecting students.

Using multivariate analysis, researchers looked at GPA differences of Black students who

attended either a HBCU or a HWI, finding that the type of college attended was a predictor of

African American academic performance (Greer & Brown, 2011). Of the 202 undergraduates

Greer & Brown (2011) sampled, African Americans at a HWI had mean GPA of 2.49 while

those at HBCU’s had a GPA mean of 3.05. An inverse relationship existed; GPA decreased as

minority status stress increased. Greer and Brown’s (2011) research suggests that racial stress

factors, such as racial microaggressions, could possibly be hindering Black students at HWIs.


Students recalling their experiences add to the understanding of racial microaggressions

by providing personal stories to the hard data on this phenomenon from answers on scales and

surveys (Armenta, Lee, Pituc, & Jung, 2013). Including stories and emotions (Solórzano, 2001)

to those numbers allows for deeper analysis because of the combination of both narration and

numbers. The numerical findings and accounts of those in higher education challenge the idea

that racial microaggressions do not exist (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino, 2008). Qualitative

studies are the most effective way to gather in-depth information about experiences because

individuals get to describe in detail what they have faced, how they felt, the context of the

situation, and with whom it happened.

In a study of 11 focus groups conducted with 81 students of color living at a HWI,

researchers were able to code the student’s experiences with racial microaggressions into 4

themes: racial slurs written in shared spaces, racial jokes and verbal comments, segregated

spaces and unequal treatment. Braided through those themes is the theme of denial and

minimization of racism (Harwood, Huntt, Mendenhall, & Lewis, 2012). In a smaller focus group

study with participants consisting of 34 African Americans (with students coming from 3

different PWIs), researchers were able to code responses into microaggressions that happened on

campus in academic spaces and social spaces (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2001). Attending class

and being on campus appear to unfortunately also mean coping with intellectual and

discriminatory stressors (Boysen, Vogel, Cope, & Hubbard, 2009)

Both studies (Harwood, Huntt, Mendenhall, & Lewis, 2012; Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso,

2001) had students reporting that they felt targeted because of their race or ethnicity, like they

did not belong, and discomfort when witnessing or experiencing a racial microaggression.

Looking at the time period these studies were conducted- one study is published 2001, the other


in 2012- would suggest that the field of microaggressions has been sharpening its tools to be

more specific in their findings (Torres-Harding, Andrade, & Diaz, 2012), but also that this topic

continues to grow. It most likely continues to grow because racial microaggressions are still

happening, and students are reporting having more difficulty coping with racial microaggressions

at HWI (Greer & Brown, 2011). Stories are a great way of putting a face on numbers; however,

the limit of storytelling is that only so many people can share their story at a time (Sue, Rivera,

Watkins, & Kim, 2011). Unless a longitudinal study is performed for college students of color

(Cheng, Cohen, & Goodman, 2015), the research topic loses valuable information of students’

stories over time and a gap exists for more longitudinal work.

When looking at the theme of experience, there are certain critiques that need to be made

about what current research has left out and the possible threats in the findings. In terms of

sharing experience numerically and storywise, there has been a dearth of research that has

mentioned or included Middle-Easterners specifically (Torres-Harding, Andrade, & Diaz, 2012).

After the events of 9/11, hate crimes against Middle Easterners rose (The Leadership

Conference, 2015). Thus, it would not be far-fetched to expect a rise of reports of racial

microaggressions towards Middle Easterners, such as the inference that all Middle Easterners are

terrorists (Desmond-Harrison, 2015a).

However, evaluation of the current literature reveals little to no mention of the Middle

Eastern demographic (Worthington, Navarro, Loewy, & Hart, 2008). Are Middle-Easterners

included within the literature in a group not labeled as so, perhaps in “White,” “Asian

American,” or “African American”? Or are they just not included at all? The Census Bureau still

regards Middle Easterners as “White,” so there are no exact numbers of Middle-Easterners;

however the Arab-American Institute Foundation (2012) estimates there are about 3.7 million


Arab Americans living within the U.S. Students of Middle Eastern descent must then exist within

the school system. Many Middle-Easterners and Northern Africans have objected to being

labeled as ‘White’ and have in recent years made attempts to have their own category (Krogstad,

2014). Middle-Easterners face a unique type of racial microaggression, most typically not

experienced by the other races, thus it is important that future research include, and possibly

focus on, Middle Eastern participants and their experiences.

Likewise, there is also a lack of studies focusing on the Southern region of the United

States. Without the Southern region as a category in the literature, the microaggression field

loses ability to become generalizable to all students of color throughout the Unites States. Not

only that, but as of now many of the microaggressive experiences that students of color face in

the South are unknown. In a study that did take place in the South, a student commented that if

people knew about the negative experiences that occurred, it would be obvious that the campus

was in the South and still very much segregated (Schwitzer, Griffin, Ancis, & Thomas, 1999).

Even though researcher try to acquire more diverse region samples by including all regions of

the U.S the South is still often left out (Nadal, Wong, Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). Many of the

current studies focus in the Midwest (Pittman, 2012), East (Greer &Brown, 2011), Northeast

(Sue, Rivera, Watkins, & Kim, 2011) or West (Huber, 2011).

Researchers have suggested that different regions provide different levels of

microaggressions because of historic implications (Nadal, Wong, Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). For

example, Nadal and his colleagues (2014) found that Asian Americans reported less racial

microaggressions in the West region of the U.S possibly due to the fact the West has a longer

history with and larger population of Asian Americans. Hence, because of the history the south

has, particularly with Blacks, psychologists could possibly find higher variances and stronger


correlations between perceived discrimination and mental health issues (Greer & Brown, 2011).

Again, leaving out the South makes racial microaggressions difficult to generalize to students

living in the U.S.

When recounting acts of microaggressions, whether with a scale or in a focus group,

participants are asked to use their memory and use their judgments to retell their experiences.

Thus, a possible threat to results in all studies is the recall of story and reliance on self-report

from participants (Wong, Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013). It is possible that the events of the day

could influence answers on surveys or questionnaires, or even discussions (Grier-Reed, 2010).

Emotions that participants are feeling while the study is being conducted can sway how the

participants remember their experiences, hence either understating or overstating certain events

(Tran & Lee, 2014). Yet, observational studies of racial microaggressions on campuses in a

natural setting would be difficult, so collecting data of microaggressions in any other way could

prove to be rough. The field holds little to no longitudinal research, but by conducting studies

overtime, researchers may follow the “developmental trends of racial microaggressions within

the same sample” (Wong, Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013, 14) and therefore allow for more

consideration of how impactful racial microaggressions can be.

Racial Microaggressions Affecting Mental Health

Looking at the effects of racial microaggressions is important because it makes the point

that racial microaggressions do occur and have negative consequences. Unfortunately, current

research readings into the thesis project have not yielded any experiments with causal results,

and studies that correlate microaggression experiences to mental health have been few since the

topic is just emerging. However, a few quantitative studies have found correlations between

racial microaggressions and mental distress.


An exploratory study using an untested measure found a low correlation between binge

drinking and racial microaggressions among 594 students of color at a HWI (Blume, Lovato,

Thyken, & Denny, 2012), but the validity of this exploratory study is questioned because of the

use of an untested instrument. Another interesting finding from this study revealed that almost

75% of the possible general psychology participants reported experiencing an average of

290.546 racial microaggressions in a 90 day period. Future studies should focus on the number

of racial microaggressions students face during certain time frames.

Contrasting results of students who went to a Historically Black College/University

(HBCU) and those who attended a Historically White Institution (HWI), Greer and Brown

(2011) found in their sample of 202 African Americans that students who attended HWIs

experienced significantly higher levels of minority status stress than students who went to a

HBCU. Minority status stress was defined as a “unique source of stress that emanates from

psychosocial difficulties related to racial and ethnic background” (Greer & Brown, 2011, 26).

Similarly, a meta-analysis of 134 articles by Pascoe and Richman (2009) revealed that higher

levels of perceived discrimination are related to poor levels of mental health among all

ethnicities. Additionally, the same researchers found 1% significance of reverse effects, as in

increased perception of discrimination was related to fewer mental health issues, however

claimed this was the result of interference of other variables such as coping style and social

support (Pascoe & Richman, 2009), which this review analyzes separately.

A second exploratory study with a sample of 157 Asian Americans found that racial

microaggressions, most specifically microinvalidations, are a significant predictor for general

mental health problems (Nadal, Wong, Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). A microinvalidation is a type of

microaggression that conveys exclusion, negation, or nullifies the thoughts, feelings, or racial


reality of a person of color (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, & Bucceri, 2007). Therefore, for Nadal

and his co-researchers (2014), their sample suggested that invalidation of racial reality has a

negative impact on Asian American psychological well-being in general. Microaggression

studies focusing on one particular race and its ethnicities imply experiential differences among

races, ethnicities, and cultures. For that reason, it is recommended that the field become specific

with sampling its participants before becoming broad. In becoming specific first, researchers

could by chance then compare and contrast the experiences, mental health correlations, and

coping styles of the different races.

A study by Hwang and Goto (2008) found several interesting key findings, the first being

that their results from studying 186 college students of color indicated significant positive

correlations between experienced discrimination and psychological distress, anxiety, clinical

depression, and increased risk for suicidal ideation. Additionally, their results also suggested that

those who were exposed to discrimination were two times at greater risk for depression and that

younger college students are at an increased danger of experiencing psychological distress.

Correspondingly, a study conducted by Smith et al. (2011) found that racial microaggressions

accounted for about 18% of the variance in extreme environmental stress from a purposive sub-

sample of 123 college-educated Black men. Not only that, but the influence of racial

microaggressions on stress grew stronger the more educated the Black male was.

Recording experiences numerically, such as through surveys and questionnaires, is one of

the fastest ways to garner personal testimonies as they may not be as extensive as focus groups

or interviews, and usually appear to be shortened for the participants (Forrest-Bank, Jenson, &

Trecartin, 2015). In the microaggression field, self-reporting scales are normally used to


correlate relationships between microaggressions and other variables, such as mental health

(Nadal, Griffin, Wong, & Hamit, 2014).

The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS) is cited as one of most frequently

used scales because of its high coefficient alphas (all over .80) in independent samples and its

strong correlations with 2 other valid scales of racism (Nadal, 2011). One study that used the

REMS as an instrument with a sample of Asian Americans found indications of a correlation

between microaggressions and general mental health problems with a p<.00 and 20% of variance

explained (Nadal, Wong, Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). Having scales to measure racial

microaggressions that can correlate mental health symptoms is helpful in the discussion that

subtle racist acts are harmful not harmless. However, scales are limited in the way that they lack

pathos and human story that can explain the answers, or numbers, in quantitative studies.

Pascoe and Richman’s (2009) dilemma of contradictive findings (Shelton & Richeson,

2006) has been a problem that other psychologists have also claimed exist within the field.

Finding strong connections in the relationship for mental health and racial microaggressions has

been difficult; however, there is hope that as the research grows and instruments become more

reliable and valid, a more conclusive answer will be drawn.

Research indicates that there are not enough studies being conducted in the field and that

there needs to be a widely accepted instrument and consistent use of a definition to measure

racial microaggressions, and in this case, made particularly to fit college students. Even though

finding high correlations and variances connecting mental health issues and racial

microaggressions has been difficult, this could be possibly due to the fact of error in present

instruments (Blume, Lovato, Thyken, & Denny, 2012) and the lack of reliability and validation

for unique instruments (Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami, & Hodson, 2002). Likewise, interference


of other variables (sex, SES) can affect results where racial microaggressions can only account

for so much of the distress as seen in the 20% variance where 80% is not accounted (Nadal,

Wong, Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). Additionally, other threats could be stereotype threat,

(Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2001) where students answer differently for fear of confirming

stereotypes, or the threat of students already using coping skills/ strategies that developed over

the years prior to college (Ruggiero & Taylor, 1997). Obtaining the skills to deal with

microaggressions may help students weaken the effects of microaggressions thus deflating the

data in quantitative research.

Pascoe and Richman (2009) are the first to mention how already receiving help can

interfere with results. Likewise, cultures teach their people to cope in different ways, thus when

looking at perceived discrimination across cultures (Armenta, Lee, Pituc, & Jung, 2013) one may

find fluctuations of how much racial microaggressions affect psychological well-being for each

group. Ultimately, if researchers could control more of the variables, the field might find

stronger evidence of a link between racial microaggressions and mental health. Referencing

weak findings and variable interference, a critique made of the mental health theme is that, in the

vast majority of articles connecting mental health and microaggressions, there is no mention of

controlling for coping and social support variables. The coping behavior that is most effective in

reducing mental distresses is still under debate (Pascoe &Richman, 2009) as there are many

ways of coping, and one way of coping maybe more beneficial for a particular ethnic group

(Chiang, Hunter, & Yeh, 2004), situation, or context.

Coping with Difficult Dialogues

Difficult dialogues on race have been defined as possible dangerous conversations or

interactions between members of different racial groups which usually occur in a context where


there’s an unequal balance between power and privilege, when one group is offensive to another,

when honor/pride is challenged, and/or when strong emotional affects are displayed (Sue, Lin,

Torino, & Capodilupo, 2009). Difficult dialogues occur often in the context of a classroom

where discussions of ideas are encouraged (Sue, Rivera, Watkins, & Kim, 2011); however racial

microaggressions themselves can also occur in the residence halls (Worthington, Navarro,

Loewy, & Hart, 2008) or in fraternities/ sororities (Schwitzer, Griffin, Ancis, & Thomas, 1999).

Teachers have reported that heated racial arguments begin in the classroom when racial

microaggressions surface during class time and a student points it out (Sue, Lin, Torino, &

Capodilupo, 2009). When crucial racial conversations come up within the classroom it’s

important that the professors know how to cope with facilitating a conversation or else the talk

can become verbally violent and disturb the setting of the class (Sue, Rivera, Watkins, & Kim,

2011).

For this review, only one quantitative article was found about incidences of

microaggressions in the classroom. In the study, Boysen et al. (2009) found that professors rated

their responses to biases as effective 45% of the time, while undergraduate students rated their

professors as 20% effective. Thus, students and teachers may not agree to the degree of

effectiveness, but this may be because, in the same study, students were found to be more

susceptible to perceiving biases. While this review did not yield any more quantitative data for

teacher management of difficult dialogues in the classroom, there are interviews of professors

who have given their ideas of what to do and not to do when racial microaggressions trigger

difficult dialogues in an academic space (Sue, Rivera, Watkins, & Kim, 2011). Conversations

within the topic field have advised that professors know what defensive behaviors look like

beforehand so they can create their own plan in managing an appropriate discussion (Watt,


2007). Other important tips are that professors should legitimize the conversation and not keep

quiet, validate the feelings within the classroom, accept different racial realities, and most

importantly, be comfortable in having a discussion about race (Sue, Lin, Torino, & Capodilupo,

2009).

In the context of racial microaggressions, coping is defined as “conceptualized efforts

used to manage, lessen, or endure the demands of situations that are perceived as stressful” and

stress is “the product of person-environment interactions that are perceived by individuals as

taxing or exceeding their available resources” (Greer & Brown, 2011, 26-27). According to the

interviews of professors, (Sue, Rivera, Watkins, & Kim, 2011) faculty play an important part in

the conversation of race at schools and helping students cope, even more so in the schools that

are predominantly White. Teachers who are proactively supportive of students of color and their

racial realities become role models and mentors to these students who need emotional

reassurance of the perceived discrimination they experience (Pittman, 2012). Studies suggest that

whether the difficult dialogue is facilitated or thwarted by the professor can either help students

cope with microaggressions or further perpetuate a negative racial climate (Sue, Lin, Torino, &

Capodilupo, 2009).

In the face of negative racial climate in the classroom, students of color report feeling

invisible, racial segregation in study groups, and other students and professors having lower

expectations of them (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2001). One student reported feeling frustrated

when her integrity was assailed in the classroom and how she, “get[s] so worked up and so

mad…it brings back all these memories” (Sue, Lin, Torino, & Capodilupo, 2009, 187). When

students constantly feel like a deficiency in their own school (Huber, 2011), this is when the


repetitive silent or overt discriminations can have a toll on their psyche (Nadal, Griffin, Wong, &

Hamit, 2014).

A focus group study of 81 students sharing their racial realities on a predominantly White

campus discovered that the most common form of coping with racial microaggressions was that,

while communicating their displeasure, they chose whatever was the least confrontational

(Harwood, Huntt, Mendenhall, & Lewis, 2012). An example of being non-confrontational is

censoring oneself in order not to create discomfort to the ‘microaggressor’ or the individual who

dealt the microaggression. Similarly, Ruggiero and Taylor (1997) found that students of color

tended to minimize the discrimination because doing so was more psychologically beneficial

than being on guard all the time. They also found that Black and Asian American students chose

to blame failure on themselves when minimizing discrimination implying that repressed feelings

of inferiority and discontent can be harmful in some way to students of color (Nadal, Wong,

Sriken, & Griffin, 2014). The burdensome effects of keeping silent can carry a heavy toll on the

mind and can cause students of color to view their school and experience negatively (Harwood,

Huntt, Mendenhall, & Lewis, 2012), and feel like they cannot turn to professional help (Chiang,

Hunter, & Yeh, 2004).

A critique of the literature that includes coping, so far, would be the possible interference

of protective factors or conditions that eliminate risk as a possible threat when researching how

students cope. While helpful to the student to decrease significant amounts of distress (Ruggiero

& Taylor, 1997), protective factors such as a supportive network (McCabe, 2009) may lessen the

reports of microaggressions that occur, thus making the numbers collected look not as urgent.

Nonetheless, the idea that students would need to take asylum in a support structure for their


stress (Rodgers & Summers, 2008) demonstrates how seriously the effects of racial

microaggressions are impacting students.

Furthermore, there is a lack of discussion within the field of the effects of a positive

racial climate in the classroom. While there is literature about microaggressions outside of the

classroom (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso), in the classroom (Watt, 2007), and on campus (Pittman,

2012), there is little discussion about how students feel when they are in the right environment

(Grier-Reed, 2010). When providing evidence of a problem it should also be important to include

solutions that are already working in an effort to demonstrate how the right changes can have a

positive effect (Laughter, 2014).

For example, Grier-Reed (2010) discusses how a ‘counterspace’ has given support and

encouragement to a large Midwestern PWI that serves 65,000 students. Solórzano and colleagues

(2000) define counterspaces as places where the stereotypes of people of color can be challenged

and positive racial climate be fostered and upheld (as sited in Grier-Reed, 2010). Likewise,

Laughter (2014) suggests the idea of “Micro-kindnesses” or active models of action meant to

fight the impact of daily microaggressions experienced by target individuals of discrimination.

Laughter’s concept is unique because the actions are meant to counter microaggressions and

provide a potential space for positive interaction.

Critiques of the Racial Microaggression Field

The following critiques are made of the topic field as a whole in reference to what has and

has not been found within the current review of the literature.

Racial microaggressions and their effects on students of color need to be generalizable to

the population of college students of color to demonstrate that these subtle discriminations are

impactful and have adverse effects. However, when the literature decides to focus on only 1


school, in 1 region, it is difficult to apply the results nationally. Likewise, it is difficult to apply

the researcher’s results to the institution they conducted the study in because the demographics

of the university are rarely revealed (McCabe, 2009); thus it is unclear whether their sample can

be applied to the population at that school because proportionality is not discussed or disclosed.

In general, the field of racial microaggressions suffers from a lack of valid and reliable

measures. This may be so because of the controversy in the field of whether to analyze and

measure racial groups individually or create an instrument that would measure all people of color

(Forrest-Bank, Jenson, & Trecartin, 2015). However, because races face different types of

discrimination, such as Asian Americans being the ‘model minority’ (Armenta, Lee, Pituc, &

Jung, 2013) or have a different history, like the Black history of slavery, creating instruments to

fit individual groups first before going general may be most beneficial.

Also, there is a problem with the time frame that most of the instruments work in. Many of

the instruments ask the participants to recall their experiences from 6 months (Nadal, Mazzula,

Rivera, & Fujii-Doe, 2014) or more, which raises concerns about recall bias. Lastly, a majority

of the measures do not acknowledge the ambiguity that occurs among people of color during

interactions of perceived discrimination (Tran & Lee, 2014). This means, people of color may be

facing more microaggressions than they realize, but because they are not aware of or are so used

to the slights, what the participants are reporting may be understated (Ruggiero & Taylor, 1997).

Furthermore, phenotype, or physical attributes can lessen or increase the number of slights. For

instance, darker Latinos report more experiences of microaggressions than lighter Latinos who

claim they rarely have felt inferior (Nadal, Mazzula, & Rivera, 2014).

Discussion and Recommendations


As a foundational author, Derald Wing Sue’s work with racial microaggressions has

increased studies and publications since redefining and adding to the framework of racial

microaggressions. Prior to 2007, PsycINFO would identify only one paper using the search term

“racial microaggression” but by 2012 the number of articles grew to 58 (Wong, Derthick, David,

& Saw, 2013). In the spring of 2015, one will find that the literature in PsycINFO for “racial

microaggression” has now expanded to 147 articles. Clearly, the research with racial

microaggressions has only started to bloom as facilitators continue to create and look for

appropriate means of measurements (Torres-Harding, Andrade, & Diaz, 2012) and increase of

population sample sizes (Irizarry, 2013).

This review offers insight thematically into the field of racial microaggressions and

critiques some flaws the research is starting to see as publications grow. Perhaps as instruments

become increasingly valid, one will find that variances and correlations between racial

microaggressions and negative experiences and mental health issues may become stronger

(Torres-Harding, Andrade, & Diaz, 2012). Because variances and correlations are currently low,

my hypothesis that negative college experiences and mental health issues would increase as

racial microaggressions increase remains inconclusive but strongly implied by significant

findings. The statistical significance in the data, although not very strong, should be worth the

practical implications of even minutely making students of color feel more a part of their college

community and major (Felix, 2014).

It would be helpful to have post-tests or follow ups for qualitative data. Whether it be

using a scale or open ended questions, collecting reactions after a meeting can add to the

literature of how creating a space to talk about microaggressions (Grier-Reed, 2010) aids in

helping students of color cope. Additionally, it could also add hard data to what would have


otherwise been solely a qualitative study (Felix, 2014). As a researcher and reader, one does not

know what ideas participants are leaving with and how the study could have affected a student’s

perception afterwards. Hence, post-tests can provide further in-depth literature to the topic.

After President Obama was voted into office in 2008, only 26% of Americans thought

that racism was still a problem (Wong, Derthick, David, & Saw, 2013). Every individual’s racial

reality is why there is so much challenge within this field (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino,

2008). It is only in this past decade that certain aspects of racial microaggressions have been

scientifically observed, and therefore, there are still a lot of questions that are left unanswered

and unexplored within this field (Nadal, Mazzula, Rivera, & Fujii-Doe, 2014). Clear forms of

racism have been studied in psychology since the Civil Right Era (Wong, Derthick, David, &

Saw, 2013); however the more subtle forms of discrimination have been less so, and it is vital

that psychologists continue to do so because of probable negative health outcomes that could be

associated with perceived discrimination among people of color.

A study conducted in 1989 by Crocker and Major (as cited in Wong, Derthick, David, &

Saw, 2013) suggests that the struggle for people of color of not knowing whether they are being

judged by their race or not can negatively impact their psychological well-being. Hence, looking

at racial microaggressions in a college setting and creating positive spaces for students of color

can be supportive and an appropriate outlet for coping (Chiang, Hunter, & Yeh, 2004). A student

in a university with a positive space for such difficult discussions shared her experience of

feeling silenced in the classroom.

…The reason I don’t speak up in a lot of my classes is because I don’t want to be

stigmatized the moment I open my mouth…White people think, “she’s

uneducated, what is she doing here.[sic] (Grier-Reed, 2010, 184)


Being in an environment that allows students to talk about their experiences with

microaggressions can relieve so many students of color (Schwitzer, Griffin, Ancis, & Thomas,

1999). Creating an authentic space for racial conversations provides a sense of belonging for

students of color, which is important for retention (Grier-Reed, 2010). According to Rodgers and

Summers (2008), despite HWIs enrolling more Black students than HBCUs, Black students

disproportionately graduated less often at HWIs. However, Hewit et al. (1990) describe how

programs that address racial climate and create a supportive network strengthen adjustment and

enhance retention rates (as cited in Schwitzer, Griffin, Ancis, & Thomas, 1999).

Future studies need to continue expanding their research implications in order to answer

the questions of how racial microaggressions impact students of color and how positive racial

climates can be created. Researchers should test for valid instruments of measurement, conduct

longitudinal studies, and increase population sample sizes so they may become generalizable

nationally. Likewise, analysts should be purposive in their sampling so that their sample reflects

the proportions of students of color in the institution they are conducting research in. In addition,

implications of ‘counterspaces’, or a space where “positive collegiate racial climate can be

established and maintained” (Grier-Reed, 2010, 182-183) within universities and colleges,

should also be considered. By continuing research in the racial microaggression field,

psychologists can hopefully bring awareness and training for interactions among students and

teachers, respectively, at colleges, and minimize mental distresses and negative experiences for

students of color.


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