Microaggressions Self-Defense: A Role-Playing Workshop for Responding to Microaggressions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Barriers to Responding to Microaggressions
1.2. Effective Responses to Prejudiced Comments
1.3. The Microaggressions Self-Defense Workshop
1.3.1. Your Goal
1.3.2. Your Role
1.3.3. The Strategies
- (1)
- Appeal to values: for example, saying “I’ve always thought of you as an open-minded person who wouldn’t say things like that.” Appealing to the aggressor’s positive values, particularly of fairness and egalitarianism, feels counter-intuitive because the aggressor is displaying behavior contrary to those values. However, research suggests that making the aggressor aware of this very discrepancy induces feelings of guilt and motivation to make their behavior more in line with their values (Czopp et al. 2006; Dovidio et al. 2000; Monteith 1993; Monteith et al. 2002). This strategy may be most effective for those lower in prejudice, because high-prejudiced individuals are less likely to find their behavior problematic (Czopp et al. 2006; Dovidio et al. 2000; Monteith 1993). One the other hand, a study of high-prejudice individuals that had the participants reflect on their values before reading a personal website about the discrimination an Arab-American faced increased behaviors such as wanting to get to know the person better compared to a condition where participants did not reflect on their values (Stone et al. 2011). This study did not examine direct confrontation, however.
- (2)
- Express your feelings, particularly of hurt or disappointment: this strategy can also induce the value–behavior discrepancy, especially when the target and aggressor have a close relationship and/or the remark is meant as a joke. This approach can also call for perspective-taking and create empathy, which has been shown to reduce stereotyping and denial of discrimination (Todd et al. 2012; Vescio et al. 2003). This approach has the potential to backfire, however, with high-prejudice individuals and if the perspective-taking requires a high amount of effort (Stone et al. 2011; Vorauer et al. 2009).
- (3)
- Get the aggressor to explain, for example, asking “What did you mean by that?”: “playing dumb” and asking for further information can be useful for highlighting logical inconsistencies in the aggressor’s words or uncovering unconscious bias. It can also provide an opportunity for the confronter to introduce information to correct a false belief.
- (4)
- Empathize with the underlying feeling, for example, by saying, “I know it’s hard to find a job after college, but affirmative action isn’t the problem”: using empathy can help the aggressor see the target as having similar values and promote inclusion of the other in the self, where another’s attributes are seen as part of one’s self-concept (Tropp and Wright 2001). Affirming the aggressor can also reduce feelings of threat, which has been shown reduce bias in intergroup interactions (Fein and Spencer 1997; Greenberg et al. 1997; Spencer et al. 1998) and make aggressors more willing to acknowledge guilt after a biased action (Gunn and Wilson 2011). Some studies suggest that affirmation is more effective for high-prejudice individuals than other strategies (e.g., Sinclair and Kunda 1999).
- (5)
- Give information that contradicts the aggressor or gives a new perspective on the issue: for example, if a White aggressor assumes that a Black target grew up in a single-parent family, the target can explain that they grew up with both parents. Providing counter-stereotypic information about one’s self is a form of individuation than can be effective for reducing prejudice (Blair and Banaji 1996; Blair et al. 2001; Dasgupta and Greenwald 2001). However, by presenting oneself as counter-stereotypic, a target may resolve prejudice against them in the moment but reinforce prejudice against their group (Focella et al. 2015). Alternatively, the target can present statistics or data that contradicts the aggressor, for example, by explaining wage disparities between men and women. This strategy requires a high level of preparation, as the confronter will need to be familiar with relevant data.
- (6)
- Use humor: humor may reduce defensiveness compared to more challenging approaches (Swim and Thomas 2006), but also strongly relies on the confronter’s personality.
- (7)
- Involve others: when no one responds to prejudiced comments, a community norm allowing those comments is set. By confronting, targets and bystanders set the opposite norm (Monteith et al. 1996; Stangor et al. 2001). Involving others can be a strategy to invoke “safety in numbers” to highlight the norm violation to the aggressor.
- (8)
- Non-verbal response: finally, a non-verbal response such as a look or sigh may still be impactful without requiring a high level of preparation or energy from the confronter.
1.3.4. Role-Play Practice
2. Discussion
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Responding to Microaggressions Handout
Note: Full size PDF available at https://doi.org/10.7291/D1DT0M
Appendix B
Definition of Microaggressions, Examples, and Effects
- Being stared at in the dining hall
- Someone asking to touch your hair because it is “exotic”
- Being told you speak English well when it is your first language
- Being mistaken for someone in a service role
- To an Asian person, “You must be good in math, can you help me with this problem?”
- Someone crosses to the other side of the street to avoid a person of color
- A gay/lesbian person being told “You don’t look gay”
- Psychological effects
- ⚬
- Anxiety
- ⚬
- Depressive symptoms
- ⚬
- Lower self-esteem
- Academic effects
- ⚬
- Lower feelings of belonging
- ⚬
- Lack of confidence in abilities
- ⚬
- Poor performance
- ⚬
- Dropping out of school
Microaggressions | Strategy | Response |
---|---|---|
“You don’t look gay.” | Appeal to values | “Wow, I didn’t think you were the kind of person to make assumptions about people.” |
Someone asking to touch your hair because it is “exotic” | Express your feelings | “It makes me uncomfortable that you want to touch my hair.” |
“You must be good in math, can you help me with this problem?” | Get them to explain | “Why would you assume that I am good at math?” |
“How do Black people feel about affirmative action?” | Empathize with the underlying feeling | “It’s great that you’re curious, but not all Black people have the same opinion about things. My opinion is…” |
“Of course she’ll get the job, she’s a minority.” | Give information | “It’s actually harder for minorities to get those jobs. I read a study about it.” |
Being told you speak English well when it is your first language | Use humor | “Thanks, I’ve been speaking it since I was born!” |
Someone assumes you speak Spanish because you look Latino/a. | Involve others | Turn to a friend: “Apparently, I speak Spanish now. Who knew?” |
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Byrd, C.M. Microaggressions Self-Defense: A Role-Playing Workshop for Responding to Microaggressions. Soc. Sci. 2018, 7, 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7060096
Byrd CM. Microaggressions Self-Defense: A Role-Playing Workshop for Responding to Microaggressions. Social Sciences. 2018; 7(6):96. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7060096
Chicago/Turabian StyleByrd, Christy M. 2018. "Microaggressions Self-Defense: A Role-Playing Workshop for Responding to Microaggressions" Social Sciences 7, no. 6: 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7060096
APA StyleByrd, C. M. (2018). Microaggressions Self-Defense: A Role-Playing Workshop for Responding to Microaggressions. Social Sciences, 7(6), 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7060096