Page 15 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Foreword xiii

charted and long - standing qualitative research program, Dr. Sue clearly outlines
these theoretical models and provides explicit examples and interpretations of
their manifestation in individuals.
Clearly, Dr. Sue has provided a robust theoretical model and specifi c
research tools (e.g., discourse analysis) that will guide ongoing and future
research in the study of microaggression impact, coping, and intervention.
I would not be surprised to see in the next decade that Microaggressions in

Everyday Life serves as the theoretical model and conceptual rationale for 25
doctoral dissertations and 100 journal articles.
5. Depth and Breadth of Coverage . Microaggressions in Everyday Life builds off
of Dr. Sue ’ s decade - long systematic research program on microaggressions.
As a result, Dr. Sue and his esteemed culture - and gender - diverse research
team (inclusive of emerging international scholars such as J. M. Bucceri, C.
M. Capodilupo, M. Esquilin, A. M. B. Holder, A. I. Lin, K. L. Nadal, D. P.
Rivera, and G. C. Torino) have been able to extend the initial work on racial
microaggressions to issues of gender and sexual orientation. What Dr. Sue ’ s
research team has found is that some aspects of microaggressions transcend
targeted minority groups, while other aspects are rather unique to specifi c
groups. As such, clinicians, educators, managers, employers, and politicians
need to understand both transcendent and culturally specifi c manifestations
of microaggression if they are to contribute to Dr. Sue’s vision for the “ way
forward. ”
This text devotes substantive discussion to various racial/ethnic microaggres-
sions (i.e., African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans,
and Native Americans), gender microaggressions, and sexual - orientation micro-

aggressions. Furthermore, it specifically addresses microaggressions in critical
spheres of life, such as employment, education, and the mental health therapy

process itself. Dr. Sue addresses specifically and candidly the significant toll that
microaggressions take on people ’ s physical and mental health, quality of life,
and sense of humanity.
Unique to this visionary text is a detailed discussion of the psycho-logical
costs of microaggressions to the perpetrators, an often neglected topic in the
social and behavioral sciences literature. These consuming and destructive
costs include cognitive impairment (operating in a false and distorted real-
ity), affective consequences (feelings of fear, anxiety, apprehension, guilt,
and lowered empathy), behavioral manifestations (inhibited social interaction
experiences), and spiritual/moral failings (losing spiritual interconnectedness
with humanity).

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