Microaggressions in Teams: How Status-Based Insults Influence Performance Expectations and Deference

• In Event: 21011 - Social Psychology in Organizations

Abstract

Microaggressions are a common negative workplace experience for marginalized groups, but it remains unclear how they impact workplace interactions compared to other kinds of negative interactions. This paper puts forward a novel conceptualization of microaggressions as a diffuse status-based insult, comments that raise the salience of marginalized identities, and compares it to specific status-based insults, negative comments about task-related skills. Drawing on expectation states theory and power-dependence theory, four experimental studies (N = 2,589) reveal that specific status-based insults (e.g., criticism of task-related skills) enhance perceptions of the deliverer’s competence and status, while diffuse status-based insults (e.g., racial microaggressions) reduce performance expectations of the deliverer (Study 1). Findings from Study 2-4 show that individuals experiencing specific status-based insults do not alter their deference behavior, whereas those experiencing diffuse status-based insults are less likely to defer to their partner. This study highlights how microaggressions, as a form of diffuse status-based insult, raise the salience of group-based identities, influencing competence perceptions and team interactions. By integrating sociological perspectives with the microaggressions research program, largely housed in psychology, this paper advances understanding of how status and power dynamics shape team behavior, offering insights for fostering inclusive workplaces and addressing the broader societal implications of status-based insults.

Author

• Malissa Alinor, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill