Poster #170 - Am I Allowed to be Offended? Racial Microaggressions and Asian American Youths’ Reactions

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Asian Americans face a special social challenge because their status in American culture is often unclear: Being perceived as Asian Americans typically brings about several positive and negative stereotypes simultaneously. These stereotypes permeate everyday social situations and give rise to racial microaggressions: the “brief and commonplace … indignities ... that communicate … negative racial slights” (Sue et al., 2007, pg. 273). However, the recipients’ experiences are often dismissed due to the “model minority” stereotype (Burrow, Fuller-Rowell, Ja, Ong, & Sue, 2013). Microaggressions can be subtle, unclear, and sometimes presented as praises, but nonetheless have negative effects on the recipient’s psychological functioning (Sue et al., 2007). In fact, the ambiguity and uncertainty in perceiving and reacting to microaggressions may be the major contributor to the recipients’ stress (Sue et al., 2007).

This study served as an empirical test to Sue et al.’s (2007) argument that microaggression regardless of salience and valence poses threat to the recipient’s positive functioning. Answering to an anonymous online survey, 249 Asian American college students (mean age = 18.77) provided numeric ratings and open-ended feedback regarding two hypothetical microaggression scenarios depicting conversations between two college students. A mixed design was used. The first scenario was ambiguous and was identical for all participants (“Where are you really from?”); this served to ensure between-group equivalence for the next scenario. The second scenario was explicit, involving either a praise (“I love spicy food”) or an insult (“I don’t want [our food] to smell bad”); the valence of the explicit scenario was randomly assigned by computer (positive n = 126, negative n = 123).

Results fully supported the arguments of Sue et al. (2007). Regardless of valence, explicit microaggression was rated more negatively than the ambiguous microaggression, ps < .001, and the majority of the participants gave negative ratings to the explicit scenario even when it was presented as a praise. Moreover, participants rated all of the scenarios as somewhat commonplace in daily life. Preliminary analyses of the open-ended responses highlighted the importance of qualitative data and limitations of relying on numeric ratings. For example, the mean rating for the ambiguous scenario was neutral, but participants’ open-ended response nonetheless indicated the awareness and active coping of a negative social experience (e.g., “I would try not to be offended”). Such response patterns illustrated the social and psychological dilemmas experienced by the recipients of microaggression.

The participants’ open-ended responses to the hypothetical transgressor varied widely and exemplified different reaction styles. Some confronted the microaggression by bringing to light the cultural issues or retaliating. Others responded without acknowledging it. Yet some others, rather than giving a response to the hypothetical speaker, offered reasons to excuse it (e.g., the speaker probably didn’t mean to offend).

Together, the current findings supported the idea that microaggression is ubiquitous, creating negative social experiences and compromising the psychological wellbeing of Asian American youths. As Asian Americans constitute a rapidly growing minority in the U.S., their mental health issues warrant serious consideration and further research.

Authors

• Sovannie Len, San Jose State University
  Presenting Author

• Shinchieh Duh, San Jose State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Malina Her, San Jose State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Vanessa Bermudez, San Jose State University
  Non-Presenting Author