Many of us, at one time or another, have been in situations where something someone said or did felt offensive, hurtful or dismissive. These can be subtle, often unintentional, comments, questions or actions that suggest bias and negative assumptions about a person based on their identity.
Social scientists refer to them as microaggressions. They are called “micro” not because they have a small impact, but because they’re usually brief, subtle and occur during everyday interactions.
Racial microaggressions, specifically, are experiences of racism that take the form of slights, exclusions, assumptions and invalidation. Repeated over time, they can become a part of everyday social experiences.
Although racial microaggressions have been studied for decades, research is increasingly documenting how pervasive these experiences are in the daily lives of racialized young people and how they affect their mental health and well-being.
This is especially concerning for people in their late teens or early 20s. This time of life is marked by major social and academic transitions and increased vulnerability to mental health challenges.
In our recently published study, we surveyed over 1,300 students at a university in Ontario about racial microaggressions. We found that almost all of the racialized students experienced some kind of racial microaggressions.
Our study
University is a time of significant change in many people’s lives. For many, it might be the first time living away from their family home. It can also involve navigating changes in existing relationships and building new friendships and adjusting to new academic environments and demands while developing a sense of identity and belonging.
For racialized students, these transitions can also bring challenges and exposure to racial microaggressions and other forms of racism that can affect how safe and supported they feel.
University students are facing increased vulnerability to mental health difficulties, especially anxiety. Racial microaggressions can further exacerbate this burden for racialized students.
(Unsplash/Deddy Yoga Pratama)
In our study, participants completed a standard socio-demographic questionnaire where they could self-select their racial/ethnic identity, and responded to questions on mental health, racial microaggressions, and other constructs.
We also used an egocentric network approach that focuses on understanding the social networks of particular individuals. This allowed us to examine the different sources of support students received and how they function.
This approach provides a more fulsome understanding of social networks compared to more generalized self-reporting. Participants can indicate the socio-demographic characteristics of their friends, and the context and content of their interactions. For example, we asked participants questions such as: “Who helps you or gives you useful information when you need it?”
This kind of question gives us a nuanced understanding of network size and the richness that social relationships provide. It can inform interventions in mental health and well-being for all students, but in particular, racialized students and other marginalized populations.
All students completed the same questionnaires to describe full-sample patterns. However, our interpretation focused on racialized students because racial microaggressions are tied to broader histories and systems of racism, and do not have the same meaning or impact across groups.
Almost all racialized students in our study reported experiencing racial microaggressions, and they reported these experiences far more often than students who identified as white. The questionnaire assessed experiences such as being treated as though one does not belong, being assumed to be foreign, being treated as a second-class citizen or being subject to stereotypes about one’s racial or ethnic group.
These experiences were associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Students who reported more racial microaggressions also reported experiencing more depression, anxiety and loneliness.
Those who experienced one of these were more likely to experience the others as well. For example, more than 80 per cent of racialized students agreed with the statement: “Other people act as if all of the people of my race are alike.”
Social support matters
At the same time, our findings showed that social support matters. Having a larger and more supportive personal network was associated with lower levels of anxiety symptoms when racialized students experienced these microaggressions.
In particular, support that was emotional and relational appeared to matter most. When students said they had people who helped make them feel better, supported with problems at home or in whom they could confide, they felt less anxious in the face of racial microaggressions.
Students appeared less vulnerable when they had more people in their personal networks who offered emotional support, caring, self-validation and opportunities for intimate disclosure.
That was even more the case for the racialized students, who were more at risk of racial microaggressions. These findings align with the stress-buffering hypothesis: when students are dealing with racism, supportive ties may help buffer some of the negative impact.
(Getty Images/Unsplash)
Our findings suggest that social relationships are an important part of how students experience and cope with racial microaggressions. Supportive networks may help reduce the mental health risks associated with these experiences, especially for minoritized students who are more likely to encounter subtle forms of racism.
Universities also have an important role to play. They need to continue addressing racism at both systemic and interpersonal levels by strengthening culturally inclusive climates, institutional equity and restorative processes that recognize harm and promote repair.
This would also require addressing the interpersonal and institutional conditions that sustain them. Until then, any negative effects can be mitigated by supporting broad social networks, especially among minoritized youth.
What we still don’t know
The main drawback of our study is that our results are cross-sectional and based on a regionally limited sample. These data provide a snapshot of a slice of youth who experience racial microaggressions.
Therefore, we can’t make statements about the direction of these effects over time. It is possible that that social support reduces anxiety over time and that students’ mental health and prior experiences shape how they perceive, report and respond to everyday social interactions. More long-term research is needed to better understand these processes and their relations to each other.
It’s crucial to examine the trajectories of these processes over time and critically during the transition to university and later on in the workforce. These are periods when social networks change, support systems also change and exposure to new environments can increase vulnerability.
Strengthening students’ social environments, both on and off campus, may help racialized students cope with racial stressors and feel a stronger sense of belonging. Universities can support this by creating opportunities for meaningful connection, mentorship, peer connections, culturally responsive programming and community-building.
