什么是微不足道的?

一个黑人妇女在工作场所体验微不足道

Verywell / Catherine Song

你有没有觉得你是一个充分的一种微妙形式的结束prejudice或刻板印象?好像有人刚才说或做某事让你因为种族,性别,性取向或与边缘化群体相关的其他特征而受到不受欢迎或判断?如果是这样,您可能会经历任何称为微磁性的东西。

什么是微不足道的?

A microaggression is a subtle verbal or nonverbal behavior, committed consciously or not, that is directed at a member of a marginalized group, and has a harmful, derogatory effect.

Although subtle and potentially less harmful than outright prejudice or intolerance, microaggressions have an impact too; in fact, being exposed to chronic microaggressions over a period of time may be hurting your mental health.

For this reason, it's important that we as a collective whole do not simply ignore their presence or pretend that something doesn't make us feel uncomfortable. Instead, as a society, we need to acknowledge them and move forward with a unified strategy to reduce their impact. Below are some definitions of microaggressions as well as ideas on how to reduce them or minimize their impact.

History

The term microaggressions was first coined in the 1970s by Harvard Medical School psychologist Chester Pierce as a reaction to observing insults exchanged between white and black students. Later in 2007, Columbia University psychologist Derald Sue further popularized and defined the term.

It's important to note that those individuals who engage in microaggressions may or may not be doing it on purpose. Instead, these actions or comments may reflect the biases held by a particular group about other groups of people.

通过这种方式,虽然他们仍然有害,但微不足道的目的不是伤害:换句话说,人们不一定知道他们的言行受伤。

当我们考虑对微不足道的流行病的解释时,这一事实很重要,因为它表明,如果人们意识到他们的言行的影响,他们可能会改变他们所做的事情以及他们所说的。

Of course, there are some people who are consciously aware of what they are doing, and perhaps are doing it with the intent to harm.

Types of Microaggressions

戴尔德苏及其同事继续讨论不同的微产亚型。这些不同类型的列表如下:

Micro Assaults

Micro assaults are the most overt type of microaggressions. Most often they are done intentionally and the person doing them knows that they are harmful and derogatory. An example would be using a slang term to refer to someone of a particular race, with the knowledge that this term has a derogatory meaning.

Micro Insults

微观侮辱比微产更微妙。这些通常是具有潜在含义或返回恭维的评论。例如,微侮辱可能涉及说,因为肯定行动,某人只会得到他们的工作。

微型失效

微型失效涉及讲述边缘化的团体,他们对偏见的经历并不重要,或者他们对所说的事情是过度反应或过于敏感的。换句话说,微型无效可能遵循微攻击或微损伤。

Environmental Microaggressions

环境微不足道涉及某些人的环境中,该环境发送了边缘化群体的无效信息。例如,观看电视节目的孩子,只有在不同种族的演员看到演员可能被排除在外或没有代表,因为媒体描绘了。

除了不同类型的微产语之外,我们还可以考虑社会影响的不同类型的群体。

Groups Affected by Microaggressions

What groups are affected by microaggressions? Any marginalized group has the potential to be the target of microaggressions. Historically, this has included ethnic少数民族,妇女,残疾人,和LGBTQ,虽然任何边缘化的群体都有可能受到影响的潜力mental illness

微不足道的例子

微不足道的一些例子是什么?他们是由于一个人的口头或非言语行为而导致贬义语调的日常情况。以下是您在日常生活中可能观察或经验的不同类型微磁性的一些具体例子:

  • A patient is waiting to see a medical professional in the hospital. A woman enters the room, and the patient assumes that she is a nurse instead of a doctor.
  • A person meets someone who is a visible minority and asks where they are "really from."
  • 一个人在街上走到街上,交叉到路的另一边,以避免某人(因为他们的外观)(即,可见的少数群体)。
  • A situation where someone tells a person who is LGBTQ that they don't "seem gay" or some other similar phrase.
  • A woman speaks up during a business meeting and afterward is told that she was being too assertive.
  • 一个是可见的少数群体的人被告知他们非常明确。
  • A person who is a visible minority (e.g., Asian) is told that they must be good in math because of their ethnicity.
  • 文档或其他通信中使用的代词排除了妇女或其他个人组(例如,LGBTQ)。

效果of Microaggressions

What are the effects of microaggressions on the people who are targeted? While it might seem like these little slights and insults would not have a large effect, in fact, research has shown that the cumulative effect of microaggressions over time has a significant effect on the mental health of the targets.

In addition, it's been shown that there is a correlation between the number of microaggressions and the level of mental health issues or萧条experienced.

针对心理健康的影响力和影响的主要方式是通过挫折而不知道如何回应。万博手机客户端

What do you say if you're not sure the person is aware of the impact of what they said? What if it is a family member or a person in authority? What if nobody else is speaking up and it seems like others will belittle your experience or say that you are overreacting?

所有这些问题都复制了微不足道并创造了对较低心理健康的自我怀疑的雾结。万博手机客户端通过这种方式,这不仅仅是关于你受伤的感受。这是关于慢性压力,引起愤怒和焦虑,并且具有毁灭性的长期影响。这是你一遍又一遍地听到的那些小点,最终可以侵蚀你的心理健康。万博手机客户端

应对微不足道

How do you cope if you are the target of microaggressions? If you've been the target of a micro insult or micro assault or any other type of microaggression, you might feel confused about how to respond.

别担心,你并不孤单。但是,要采取某种行动来保护您的心理健康是很重要的。万博手机客户端正如已经注意到的那样,感到沮丧,无法做出反应会导致慢性压力,消耗你的心理健康。万博手机客户端

将微不足道带到光线也很重要,因为否则,违法者可能不知道他们是如何让你感受到的。虽然它可能会感到自然或生气,但更好的方法是平静地说明情况如何让你感受到,让另一个人知道。

While overt microaggressions might be difficult to deal with (e.g., the person intentionally tried to make you feel bad), the ones that are unintentional might be easier to remedy.

如果有人没有意识到他们的话或行为是如何影响你的,平静地让他们知道是教育他们如何影响他们的行为影响其他人的第一步。这就是我们如何在世界上看到逐步变化。

Preventing Microaggressions

How do we prevent microaggressions as individuals, as a society, and as members of the global community? Aside from calmly stating how microaggressions hurt you as a target, there is also a need to talk about how to avoid engaging in microaggressions yourself.

事实是,我们大多数人都希望相信我们是好人(大多是我们是),所以我们所说或做的概念是令人反感的或不善待别人的公平创造了对我们自我意识的威胁。

In this way, the only way to stop microaggressions is for everyone to confront their own inherent biases. And to do this, you will need to expose yourself to a wider variety of situations and people and perhaps things that make you uncomfortable.

This means being open to becoming friends with people from different places and people who have ideas that are different from yours. No, you don't need to change your morals and values, but you need to be open to learning about other people as individuals without immediately perceiving them as being part of a particular group (and having the biases that go along with that).

此外,如果有人说话并告诉你你所说或做的是对他们有害的,那么倾听很重要。最重要的是,在你说话之前想到并考虑如何影响你周围的人。

Microaggressionscause others to feel dismissed, alienated, insulted, or invalidated. They make differences in power and privilege more apparent and perpetuate stereotypes and racism. For this reason, evaluate your own biases, watch what you say, and censor yourself when your words might be hurtful.

微产的根本原因

What are the underlying causes of microaggressions? There is no simple answer, as many of the types of prejudice in question are partially a result of centuries of systemic racism and stereotypes that persist to this day, even as we have moved toward a more equal society. Issues like the following can linger in our collective consciousness:

  • Stereotypical depictions of minorities in popular literature, film, and television
  • 在我们历史的某些部分上粉刷或光泽
  • Being socialized by people of an older generation who may carry their views from a more intolerant time
  • The ease of scapegoating others rather than facing our own issues

克服微不足道

有人认为这个问题的解决方案并没有增加政治正确性,而是避免了问题的根源。

It may be best, for example, not to police language in a way that creates more barriers between people, because those who don't understand their inherent biases aren't likely to change their words or behaviors.

因此,为了避免微产的目标,从发展成为受害者的感觉(而且没有权力),可能是制定更好的解决方案,以发展偏见和导致偏差类型的较大的潜在结构问题的策略使微不足道更常见。

明确ly, this is a complicated undertaking, and one that has been ongoing for decades, with a lot more work to be done.

A Word From Verywell

Whether you are a target of microaggressions or someone who has knowingly or unknowingly engaged in targeting others with microaggressions, you play a part in the solution to this problem. As a target, it's important to share with others how microaggressions make you feel, so that they can have a better understanding and greater empathy.

As an aggressor, it's important to deeply consider your inherent biases, how you can change them, and to broaden your experiences in the process. It's only through this joint effort that change will be seen and the negative long-term effects of microaggressions on mental health will be resolved.

您是否会继续延续刻板印象,或者您会调整偏见,以更好地与现实保持一致吗?你会允许人们让你通过自己的言行和行动感到沮丧或愤怒,而不是自己行动?无论您是目标还是侵略者,都有可以采取措施在社会中修复这个问题。

只有当问题被认可,解决问题和步骤都会采取措施来解决问题,即我们在微不足道上看到任何真正的变化或运动。尽你所能作为潜在的受害者和侵略者,以确保你没有贡献自己的心理健康和周围的人。万博手机客户端

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  1. Sue DW, Capodilupo CM, Torino GC, et al.Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practiceAm Psychol。2007;62(4):271-286. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271

  2. Lui PP, Quezada L.Associations between microaggression and adjustment outcomes: A meta-analytic and narrative reviewPsychol Bull。2019;145(1):45-78. doi:10.1037/bul0000172

额外阅读
  • Barber S, Gronholm PC, Ahuja S, Rüsch N, Thornicroft G. Microaggressions towards people affected by mental health problems: a scoping review.Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci。2019; 29:E82。DOI:10.1017/S2045796019000763

  • Berkeley Political Review. The tyranny of microaggression.

  • National Institutes of Health.Microaggressions