Page 124 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

98 microaggressive stress

In one study, when African American men watched videos of social situations
depicting biased interactions, heart rate and blood pressure rose signifi cantly
(Fang & Myers, 2001). The impact of race - related stress is demonstrated in
a plethora of studies suggesting that the physical well - being of people of
color is constantly threatened in this society. Thus, people of color may be at
increased risk for certain illnesses such as coronary heart disease, diabetes,
hypertension, allergies, asthma, and so forth due to the body ’ s heightened
physiological reactivity to chronic stressors.
Further, while a strong relationship between microaggressive stressors and
illnesses seems to exist, it appears that the former also affects the biological
disease process as well. Stress itself does not appear to cause infections, but
it seems to decrease the immune system ’ s efficiency and increases suscepti-

bility to a disease. White blood cells in the immune system help to maintain
health by recognizing and destroying bacterial or viral invasions of the body.
The two classes of blood cells, lymphocytes and phagocytes, are responsible
for detecting and destroying invaders, producing antibodies, preventing the
growth of tumors, and so forth (Cohen & Herbert, 1996). When under stress,
the body responds by releasing neurohormones such as corticosteroids that
impair immune functioning.
Exposure to chronic stress like microaggressions may make the person
more susceptible to diseases and also affects the speed of their progression
(Miller, Chen, & Zhou, 2007). Vulnerability to upper respiratory infections
such as colds and other illnesses seems to be affected by the severity, duration,
and type of stressor (Cohen et al., 1998). Lower immune system functioning
has been correlated with abrasive marital interactions, spouses living with
dementia victims, separated men, acculturative stress, and so on (Kiecolt -
Glaser et al., 1987; Kiecolt - Glazer, Glaser, Cacioppo, & MacCallum, 1997;
Pike, Smith, Hauger, et al., 1997; Steele & McGarvey, 1997). Clearly, microag-
gressive stress may affect the physical health of targets.

Emotional Effects of Microaggressive Stressors

Many scholars have noted that racism, sexism, and heterosexism affect the psy-
chological adjustment, subjective well - being, self - esteem, and mental health
of people of color, women, and LGBTs (Buser, 2009; Cortina & Kubiak, 2006;
Utsey & Hook, 2007; Moradi, van den Berg, & Epting, 2009; Hwang & Goto,
2008). These studies, however, do not necessarily separate out the overt forms
of biases from more subtle manifestations, but it appears that microaggressions

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