“Is It Because I’m Black?”: A Study of the African American Perception of Microaggression Depending on Aggressor Race

This study explored whether the interpretation of microaggressions is influenced by the race of the aggressor. African Americans watched a video depicting a microaggression between actors portraying either an African American, White, or Hispanic experimenter and an African American participant. Participants viewed the exchange between the experimenter and subject as more offensive, the experimenter as more culturally biased, and less likable when the experimenter was either Hispanic or white compared to when the experimenter was African American. Participants reported less negative affect when the experimenter was African American. Results suggest that the perception of microaggressions is influenced by the race of the aggressor, supporting the role of social identity theory. The results highlight the complexity of interpreting microaggressions and have implications for understanding how one may develop more effective interventions to address racial bias in social and clinical contexts.