Microaggressions are subtle, often unconscious behaviors or comments that unintentionally communicate a bias towards others, especially towards underrepresented groups. They can have a long-term impact on individuals and organizations.
While microaggressions often go unnoticed, their impact over time—on the recipients’ personal wellbeing, team collaboration, and company success—is significant. Although they might seem minor, microaggressions have a cumulative impact that can negatively affect mental health. And in the workplace, they often diminish professional confidence, fulfillment, and performance.
Coined by Harvard psychiatrist, Chester M. Pierce in 1970, microaggressions were originally specific to people of color, and defined as “everyday insults, indignities, and demeaning messages sent by well-intentioned people unaware of the hidden messages”. Dr. Derald Wing Sue of Columbia University then modernized the term to apply to all marginalized groups. Though anyone can experience microaggressions, marginalized groups tend to face them repeatedly and feel their cumulative impact—both in social life, as well as in the workplace.
CultureWizard’s new course on microaggressions explores the following information in great detail, and also provides the opportunity to practice navigating realistic situations.
Examples of microaggressions
- Verbal Microaggression
Asking someone of a different race or ethnicity: “Where are you from?”
While this is a common question that typically has positive intention, it can subtly indicate that the other person isn’t native to the area, when that might not be the case. When someone hears this question repeatedly, it can eventually impact their underlying sense of belonging.
- Behavioral Microaggression
Assuming that someone of a particular race or ethnicity speaks a certain language.
We might assume that because someone is from a particular ethnic group or region, that they speak a certain language. However, they might have grown up in the United States, for example, and speak only English. There can also be many languages spoken in a geographic region, so we can’t assume that someone speaks a language based on a hypothesis about their identity.
Avoiding Microaggressions
Once we build a deeper understanding of microaggressions, we might wonder how we can avoid making them. Here are three tips for avoiding microaggressions:
- Do your best to avoid generalizations and assumptions
This can include comments that stereotype certain groups of people, leading questions like asking someone if they’re from a certain country, or assumptions about others’ experiences. People’s identities are complex, so it’s best to become curious, ask questions that allow others to share their experience, and to actively listen. - Use the Pause-Reflect Model.
CultureWizard’s Pause-Reflect Model is a conversation tool that aids in slowing the thinking process so that we have time to consciously make new decisions about how to respond to others in the present moment, rather than relying on habitual reactions that are neurologically rooted in past experience. To further explore the 4 steps of the Pause-Reflect Model, take a look at this article on Overcoming Implicit Bias.
- Look at things from a different perspective.
Self-awareness is key in reducing microaggressions. Before you speak or act, and in reflecting afterward, it’s helpful to consider what’s driving your interest in certain information and if it’s possible that unconscious bias might be playing a role in the way you think or communicate. Taking time to reflect on this can help avoid microaggressions in the future.
Addressing Microaggressions
Since our brains process a vast amount of data per second, they’re wired to create shortcuts in judgment based on stored information and past experiences. This tendency, called implicit bias, is universal. Anyone can unintentionally commit microaggressions --even those with an inclusive mindset. In the workplace, it’s important to have conversations that surface microaggressions. This can cause discomfort, but as long as everyone feels safe and respected, it’s often a critical precursor to change.
If it’s brought to your attention that you’ve committed a microaggression, here’s what you can do to address it:
- Actively listen to the other person’s feelings and experiences.
If you have committed a microaggression, it’s essential to listen very attentively to the other person. While it’s natural to try to explain our intentions, this elevates our own perspective. Instead, it’s best to really listen with openness and curiosity. - Acknowledge your mistake and validate the other person’s feelings.
Affirming the recipient’s feelings and acknowledging that you made a mistake not only displays empathy and builds a stronger relationship, it also helps you to see another perspective more clearly.
- Apologize for the impact you had, even if it wasn’t your intention.
It’s important to recognize that intentions are often very different from the actual impact that actions create. An apology shows that you understand the effect your actions had on the other person, even if you didn’t mean for that to be the case. It elevates their experience and shows that you’re really listening. - Reflect on the situation, and learn from a new perspective.
Reflecting on microaggressions is an opportunity to learn. Acknowledging them not only validates the other person’s experience, it also cultivates our own ability to reframe personal perspective. This is a skill that can enhance any relationship, both inside and outside of work.
In order to truly understand how microaggressions can impact others and our workplace as a whole, we have to actively make a practice of putting ourselves in others’ shoes. Empathizing with those who experience microaggressions often can help us navigate them with less misunderstanding. Remember that the shared goal is to move forward together towards an enhanced working relationship.
Addressing microaggressions from a place of empathy and diverse perspective-taking paves the path for stronger, more trusting team dynamics, and enhanced employee wellbeing–the basis for an inclusive work culture where everyone feels valued. In the long run, establishing this foundation will yield greater company loyalty, job longevity, more effective employee collaboration, and new levels of possibility in the workplace.
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