STOP Bad Therapy: Myths About Microaggressions

Can People of Color Commit Racial Microaggressions?

By Monnica T. Williams
December 14, 2024

There are many myths and misconceptions about microaggressions that continue to be a source of confusion. Some believe that people of color cannot commit microaggressions against other people of color because microaggressions are caused systemic power imbalances rooted in racial hierarchies that support White dominance.

Can people of color commit racial microaggressions toward other people of color?

In this view, racialized people, as members of marginalized groups, are seen as sharing a common experience of oppression and thus presumed to lack the institutional power necessary to enact similar forms of subtle harm. However, this understanding can be overly simplistic, as power dynamics, intragroup tensions, and internalized biases can still lead to microaggressive behaviors by people of color toward one another. People of color are subjected to all the same pervasive negative social messages about themselves as White people. As such, many will adopt negative views about other people of color and even themselves.

Our research team investigated this issue further. We found that while people of color generally recognize racial microaggressions as unacceptable, they may still commit such acts against other people of color. Notably, there was a significant correlation between anti-Black microaggressions and higher aggression levels in perpetrators, and this was true for Hispanic, Black, and Asian Americans — not just White people, as examined in a prior study. Importantly, these behaviors cannot be solely attributed to neuroticism or low ethnic identity. The findings underscore the importance of professional intervention: therapists, for example, should be prepared to address microaggressions in their sessions, even when they occur among people of color.

And, if you are following the conversation about the 60+ scholars who have been attacking our anti-racist work, you will see that although the vast majority (over 95%) are White, there are tiny number of people of color who have joined in as well.

You can support this campaign by posting any of these images on social media with a link back to this web page at: https://www.mentalhealthdisparities.com/stop-bad-therapy.php

STOP Bad Therapy: Scrubbing Academic Racism from Clinical Care

By Monnica T. Williams
December 2, 2024

In 2017, notable psychology researcher Scott Lilienfeld advanced several influential theories about racial microaggressions that continue to cause harm to people of color. Among the most damaging of his notions is that experiencing microaggressions is not harmful, and that people of color just complain about microaggressions because we are neurotic. Research conducted in this lab and elsewhere has proven these racist theories are false.

I am tired of White men telling people of color what we feel and how it affects us.

Recently, 60 mostly White, mostly male scholars have objected to us calling out this racism to discredit our work and defend his legacy. I, for one, am tired of White men telling people of color what we feel and how it affects us. I am also tired of these same people trying to keep us ignorant about the facts. Did I mention that Scott Lilienfeld vigorously opposed educating people about microaggressions? Yup.

I would prefer if we could all move on from Lilienfeld's embarrassing machinations, but unfortunately support for his racist work will just not die. As such, our lab has started a social media campaign called STOP Bad Therapy to draw attention to the harm that these racist theories have caused in clinical care and to educate the public.

You can support this campaign by posting any of these images on social media with a link back to this web page at: https://www.mentalhealthdisparities.com/stop-bad-therapy.php

Join us online on Wednesday, Dec 11 at Noon EST for an engaging discussion about these issues in our Zoom room through our Meet-Up Group Anti-Racism International.

How Scott Lilienfeld's Unscientific Theories About Microaggressions Advanced Racism

By Monnica T. Williams & Sonya Faber
December 4, 2024

Scott Lilienfeld's (2017) theories about microaggressions were highly influential, as can be seen by the fact that his paper on the topic was cited over 744 times, according to Google Scholar, as well as the quick uptake of his beliefs at the time. It is important to understand, however, that his work employs a cultural deficit-model, which blames the racialized victim for their difficulties. A cultural deficit-model means the researcher is looking for the source of the problem in people of color without a genuine consideration of alternative explanations.

Here we summarize some of his theories, explaining how they promoted racism and why they were wrong. All items in quotes are from Lilienfeld (2017) unless otherwise indicated.

Racist Theory	Experiencing microaggressions is not harmful.
His Own Words	“Microaggressions exert an adverse impact on the mental health of recipients: There is minimal research evidence for this assertion.”
How This Is Racist	This assumption ignores the lived-experience of those who navigate microaggressions, centering White assumptions over the knowledge and experience of people of color.
Debunking Research	Correlational and prospective studies show microaggressions are linked to a host of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, loneliness, maladjustment, and suicidality (Williams, 2020).
Resulting Harms	People of color may feel gaslit when their experiences are not properly validated or met with empathy. Therapists may fail to properly connect client symptoms to microaggressions, leading to ineffective treatment.

Racist Theory	Students should not be educated about microaggressions, as it will only make people of color perceive slights where there are none, making them more "emotionally fragile."
His Own Words	"I call for a moratorium on microaggression training programmes and publicly distributed microaggression lists now widespread in the college and business worlds"
How This Is Racist	One way oppressor groups control marginalized groups is by denying them education. Keeping them ignorant, makes them easier to control.
Debunking Research	Research shows that educating students about racial microaggressions reduces racism and improves ethnic identity, which makes students of color stronger not weaker, and students (both Black and White) positively rate the training experience (Williams et al., 2020).
Resulting Harms	Many universities stopped providing information about microaggressions, fostering ignorance. This also stymies educational efforts to reduce microaggressions.

Racist Theory	Student clinicians should not be educated about microaggressions.
His Own Words	“I call for a moratorium on microaggression training programs”
How This Is Racist	One way oppressor groups control marginalized groups is by denying them proper medical care. Failing to properly train mental health providers about all forms of racism promotes unwellness in people of color.
Debunking Research	Research shows that educating medical students about racial microaggressions improves clinical care and the working alliance (Kanter et al., 2020).
Resulting Harms	Many clinical training programs stopped teaching therapists about microaggressions and racism, increasing racial health care disparities.

Racist Theory	People of color complain about microaggressions because they are neurotic (high in “negative emotionality.”)
His Own Words	Microaggressions research “has all but ignored the potentially crucial role of negative emotionality.”
How This Is Racist	People who are neurotic tend to be more anxious, overly sensitive, and more likely to complain of victimization, which reflects racist stereotypes.
Debunking Research	Studies demonstrate a robust link between microaggressions and psychological harm even after controlling for traits like negative emotionality (Ong et al., 2013). And interestingly, on average White people are more neurotic than Black people (Williams et al., 2018).
Resulting Harms	Therapists who believe this myth are likely to be dismissive and invalidating of their clients’ distress about microaggressions, worsening symptoms.

Racist Theory	Microaggressions are not aggressive because they are unintentional.
His Own Words	“There is no research evidence that microaggressions correlate with indices of either aggression or prejudice in deliverers.”
How This Is Racist	This notion ignores the lived-experience of those who experience microaggressions, centering White conceptualizations of aggression over those of people of color.
Debunking Research	Research finds people who commit more microaggressions are significantly more aggressive, passive-aggressive, and have more hostile/suspicious thinking (Williams, 2021).
Resulting Harms	Microaggressions are assumed to be unintentional, but this is not always true and should not be assumed. Victims may fail to consider aggressive tendencies in offenders.

Racist Theory	The name for microaggression should be changed because it mischaracterizes offenders.
His Own Words	“I propose that ‘microaggression’ be replaced by a term that is free of its problematic conceptual and empirical baggage, especially its unsubstantiated presumption of hostile content.”
How This Is Racist	Centers White preferences for the name of the construct over the Black psychiatrist scholar who invented it and the expert psychologists of color who studied and popularized it (e.g., Chester Pierce, Derald Wing Sue, Daniel Solórzano, etc.)
Debunking Research	Research finds people who are more prone to commit microaggressions are significantly more aggressive, and more prone to bullying and violence (Botor & Antover, in press).
Resulting Harms	Undermines the intellectual authority of scholars of color, and urges marginalized people to be naively trusting of people who are potentially hostile.

Racist Theory	Microaggressions are not an indication of racism or any other form of prejudice.
His Own Words	“There is no research evidence that microaggressions correlate with indices of … prejudice in deliverers.”
How This Is Racist	Although many scholars of color have detailed how racial microaggressions align with racial stereotypes and exemplify unfair treatment, a non-expert White scholar feels justified to postulate otherwise without evidence.
Debunking Research	Microaggressions are correlated to many indicators of racism, including symbolic racism, colorblind racial attitudes, modern racism, and negative feelings toward people of color (Kanter et al., 2017).
Resulting Harms	Excuses racial microaggressions by saying they are not racist, creating a lack of accountability.

Racist Theory	Microaggressions cannot be considered accurate based on only the report of the victim.
His Own Words	“Mono-source bias, specifically the exclusive reliance on self-report in microaggression research, is a serious limitation.”
How This Is Racist	A person of color is not considered capable or reliable enough to identify a microaggression unless someone else sees it and agrees. That makes the observer’s opinion more valid than the person of color who experienced the microaggression.
Debunking Research	There are many scientifically validated self-report measures of microaggressions (Osman et al., 2024). Further, racialized people understand racism better than White people because they experience it (Banaji et al., 2021).
Resulting Harms	People of color are doubted or disbelieved when they report microaggressions unless a White person can verify it.

Racist Theory	There is no agreement between or within racial groups as to if something is actually a microaggression, which compromises its validity.
His Own Words	“there are no interrater reliability data on whether recipients of microaggressions agree on which individuals are engaging in subtle prejudice.”
How This Is Racist	There is a presumption that agreement is needed before an act is deemed racism, but racial microaggressions are defined by objective criteria not opinion (Williams, 2020).
Debunking Research	There is general agreement between White people, Black people, other people of color, and diversity experts as to what is microaggressive (Michaels et al., 2018; Williams et al., 2021).
Resulting Harms	If microaggressions are viewed as purely subjective, they may not be considered real, making reports of experiences easily dismissed.

Racist Theory	The construct of microaggressions is not a scientifically valid, important, or useful.
His Own Words	“It is far too underdeveloped on the conceptual and methodological fronts to warrant real-world application.”
How This Is Racist	Lilienfeld drew this conclusion with a poor understanding of the literature and no collaboration from racism experts or scholars of color. He deemed his unqualified opinion superior and devalued lived experience.
Debunking Research	A qualified scholar of color addressed all the arguments against the validity of the construct, which is unopposed (Williams, 2020). There is a robust body of scientific literature on “everyday racism” and “microaggressions” (over 15,000 scholarly publications).
Resulting Harms	People of color might be wrongly told that microaggressions are not real or they are unscientific, invalidating their experience.

A Racist Approach

Some might argue that every good scientist should advance theories, and shouldn't we test them to find out if they are true? Couldn't we argue that Lilienfeld was just advancing sound theories to strengthen the field? The answer is no, because all of his theories pathologized victims or color or denigrated the knowledge of scholars of color. If we looked at only one of his ideas in isolation, or if even a few of his ideas were non-pathologizing, one might argue that his was not a racist agenda. However, we can see a clear and consistent pattern of racism in his whole approach to the issue. Not one of his theories fell on the side of honoring the lived-experience or science of people of color. As such, we can safely conclude this was a racist research agenda.

That being said, in some ways his work did strengthen the field. Because psychology was eager to embrace his theories without proof, many angry researchers of color were forced to do more research to prove him wrong. As such, we can put his notions to bed more soundly than ever before.

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