Page 298 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

272 microaggressive impact on mental health practice

straights. The vigilance allows marginalized groups to develop an intuitive
understanding of the actions, thoughts, and unstated motives of well - intentioned
Whites, men, and heterosexuals.

Nonverbal Communications
Heightened perceptual wisdom has been associated with the ability to accu-
rately read nonverbal communications (Hanna et al., 2000). People of color
and women have been found to be better “ readers ” of nonverbal cues than
White men (Jenkins, 1982; Pearson, 1985; Weber, 1985). Part of this deals with
the need of those with least power in interpersonal relationships to understand
those who have the power to influence or determine their lives. Blacks also

have a saying that speaks to the importance of nonverbal communications :
“ If you really want to know where Mr. White is coming from, don ’ t listen to what he
says, but how he says it. ” Behind this statement is the belief that nonverbals are

least under conscious control and more likely to reveal the true motives of
the speaker or actor (DePaulo, 1992; Kochman, 1981; Singelis, 1994). Clues
to conscious deception and unconscious biases are believed to be revealed
in nonverbal communications. Nonverbal cues include proxemics (use of
personal and interpersonal distance), kinesics (body movements — facial
expression, posture, gestures, and eye contact), and paralanguage (vocal cues —

pauses, loudness of voice, hesitations, silences, inflection, rate of speech, etc.). In
a study of interracial interactions, for example, it was found that while claiming
to be unbiased and comfortable in discussing race topics, White counselor train-
ees ’ speech patterns revealed anxiety, stammering, constriction, and tangential
speech. In other words, the unconscious messages contradicted the conscious
ones. When racial, gender, or sexual-orientation microaggressions are delivered,
people of color, women, and LGBTs are likely to read the contextualized
meanings of the communication, to use nonverbal cues to discern the truth, and
to evaluate the credibility of the communicator on the basis of the hidden mes-
sage imparted. While a microaggression may be invisible to the perpetrator, it is
quite clear to the target person or group.

COUNSELOR/THERAPIST CREDIBILITY

In the therapeutic context, helping professionals who are perceived as

credible are more likely to exert greater social influence over their client ’ s atti-
tudes, beliefs, and behaviors than those who are perceived as less credible
(Strong, 1968). Social psychological studies on interpersonal infl uence suggest

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