Page 135 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

The Effects of Microaggressive Stress 109

invisible minority (LGBT) differ from being a visible minority group
member with respect to the experience of microaggressions?
• Within racial groups, what similar and different racial microaggres-
sions do African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino(a) Americans,

and Native Americans experience? What are the specific racial or
ethnic microaggressions associated with each group? Our studies
suggest, for example, that Asian Americans and Latino(a)s are more
likely to experience microaggressive themes associated with being
“an alien in one’s own land” while African Americans are more likely
to experience themes of “criminality.” In fact, Asian Americans seldom
experienced criminality themes.
• In the taxonomy of microaggressions, are there differences in how
microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations impact marginalized
groups. Which are more harmful? Sue (2003) has asserted that he
believes microinvalidations are the most harmful because they deny the
racial, gender, and sexual-orientation realities of these three groups,
while the other two forms represent a more direct attack.
• What are other factors that mediate or moderate the impact of micro-
aggressions? Do microaggressions from strangers have less impact
than those delivered by family, friends, or colleagues? Is the experience
of a microaggression more severe when an unequal status relation-
ship exists between perpetrator and target?

These are important areas of research that hopefully will lead us to shed
light on microaggressive stresses and coping with them.

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