Multiracial Individuals' Perceptions of Microaggressions

As microaggressions can have negative impacts on one’s sense of belonging, academic success, and engagement, it is important to examine their prevalence in Multiracial individuals, the fastest-growing population in the United States. The current study investigates how Multiracial individuals perceive various microaggressions in terms of offensiveness, upsetedness, and how often they occur. We examined the microaggressions in terms of broad categories such as Exclusion/Isolation, Exoticization/Objectification, Assumption of Monoracial Identity (mistaken identity)/Denial of Multiracial Reality and found which are the most frequent, offensive, and upsetting. A college sample (n = 42) and national sample (n = 58) of participants read 12 hypothetical scenarios involving microaggressions representing these three categories. Participants were asked to rate these 12 scenarios in terms of whether they had experienced a similar situation, how offensive they found them, and how upsetting they found the scenario. Results revealed that in both samples the Assumption of Monoracial Identity (mistaken identity)/Denial of Multiracial Reality was the most frequently experienced category of microaggressions. Additionally, for both samples, the Exclusion/Isolation Category was viewed as the most offensive and upsetting category of microaggressions. Together, these results suggest that Multiracial individuals experience microaggressions in which they are denied their Multiracial identity most often and feel the most offended and upset when they feel like they’re being excluded or isolated due to their mixed race.