Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice.

Sue, Derald Wing; Capodilupo, Christina M.; Torino, Gina C.; Bucceri, Jennifer M.; Holder, Aisha M. B.; Nadal, Kevin L.; Esquilin, Marta

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271

Cited by 5,569Counseling Practices and SupervisionRacial and Ethnic Identity ResearchSocial and Intergroup Psychology

Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice.

Sue, Derald Wing, Capodilupo, Christina M., Torino, Gina C., Bucceri, Jennifer M., Holder, Aisha M. B., Nadal, Kevin L., Esquilin, Marta·2007·American Psychologist

DOI 10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color. Perpetrators of microaggressions are often unaware that they engage in such communications when they interact with racial/ethnic minorities. A taxonomy of racial microaggressions in everyday life was created through a review of the social psychological literature on aversive racism, from formulations regarding the manifestation and impact of everyday racism, and from reading numerous personal narratives of counselors (both White and those of color) on their racial/cultural awakening. Microaggressions seem to appear in three forms: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation. Almost all interracial encounters are prone to microaggressions; this article uses the White counselor--client of color counseling dyad to illustrate how they impair the development of a therapeutic alliance. Suggestions regarding education and training and research in the helping professions are discussed.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

White people are often unaware of the harmful psychological messages of insult and invalidation experienced by people of color in everyday communication.
“As demonstrated by the work on microaggressions in service delivery by Sue et al. (2007), White people are often unaware of these continuous harmful psychological messages of insult and invalidation experienced by people of color in everyday communication.”
From In Pursuit of Antiracist Social Justice: Denaturalizing Whiteness in the Academic Library (2015) · cites this paper as Sue et al. (2007)

Relation of the therapeutic alliance with outcome and other variables: a meta-analytic review
Martin, D. J., Garske, J. P., & Davis, M. K. (2000) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.68.3.438 · Cited by 3,355 · see citing works
Relation between working alliance and outcome in psychotherapy: A meta-analysis
Horvath, A. O., & Symonds, B. D. (1991) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.38.2.139 · Cited by 2,673 · see citing works
Why can't we just get along? Interpersonal biases and interracial distrust.
Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. E., Kawakami, K., & Hodson, G. (2002) · Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/1099-9809.8.2.88 · Cited by 593 · see citing works
Guess who's coming to therapy? Getting comfortable with conversations about race and ethnicity in psychotherapy.
Cardemil, E. V., & Battle, C. L. (2003) · Professional Psychology: Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/0735-7028.34.3.278 · Cited by 206 · cited 1× · see citing works
“A therapist’s willingness to discuss racial matters is of central importance in creating a therapeutic alliance with clients of color (Cardemil & Battle, 2003).”

Flagged first, then by citations

Sorted by citations

Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing
Dotson, K. (2011) · Hypatia · doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2011.01177.x · Cited by 2,150 · see citing works
Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate for Latina/o Undergraduates
Yosso, T., Smith, W., Ceja, M., & Solórzano, D. (2009) · Harvard Educational Review · doi:10.17763/haer.79.4.m6867014157m707l · Cited by 1,221 · see citing works
Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success
Ong, M., Smith, J. M., & Ko, L. T. (2018) · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · doi:10.1002/tea.21417 · Cited by 613 · see citing works
Concept Creep: Psychology's Expanding Concepts of Harm and Pathology
Haslam, N. (2016) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2016.1082418 · Cited by 538 · see citing works
Toward a psychological framework of radical healing in communities of color
French, B. H., Lewis, J. A., Mosley, D. V., Adames, H. Y., Chavez-Dueñas, N. Y., Chen, G. A., & Neville, H. A. (2020) · The Counseling Psychologist · doi:10.1177/0011000019843506 · Cited by 522 · see citing works
Rethinking minority stress: A social safety perspective on the health effects of stigma in sexually-diverse and gender-diverse populations
Diamond, L. M., & Alley, J. (2022) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104720 · Cited by 412 · see citing works
Daily multidimensional racial discrimination among Black U.S. American adolescents
English, D., Lambert, S. F., Tynes, B. M., Bowleg, L., Zea, M. C., & Howard, L. C. (2020) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101068 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
“Every Shut Eye, Ain’t Sleep”: The Role of Racism-Related Vigilance in Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sleep Difficulty
Hicken, M. T., Lee, H., Ailshire, J., Burgard, S. A., & Williams, D. R. (2013) · Race and Social Problems · doi:10.1007/s12552-013-9095-9 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Inclusive leadership: how leaders sustain or discourage work group inclusion
Shore, L. M., & Chung, B. G. (2022) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/1059601121999580 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Counterspaces: A Unit of Analysis for Understanding the Role of Settings in Marginalized Individuals’ Adaptive Responses to Oppression
Case, A. D., & Hunter, C. D. (2012) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-012-9497-7 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Intergenerational cultural conflict, mental health, and educational outcomes among Asian and Latino/a Americans: Qualitative and meta-analytic review.
Lui, P. P. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0038449 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
ToxiGen: A Large-Scale Machine-Generated Dataset for Adversarial and Implicit Hate Speech Detection
Hartvigsen, T., Gabriel, S., Palangi, H., Sap, M., Ray, D., & Kamar, E. (2022) · Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers) · doi:10.18653/v1/2022.acl-long.234 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Racial/ethnic disparities in hypertension prevalence: reconsidering the role of chronic stress
Hicken, M. T., Lee, H., Morenoff, J., House, J. S., & Williams, D. R. (2014) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301395 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Inclusion of people of color in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: a review of the literature.
Michaels, T. I., Purdon, J., Collins, A., & Williams, M. T. (2018) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1824-6 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
The relationship between perceived discrimination and generalized anxiety disorder among African Americans, afro Caribbeans, and non-Hispanic whites
Soto, J. A., Dawson-Andoh, N. A., & BeLue, R. (2011) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.09.011 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Addressing the “Myth” of Racial Trauma: Developmental and Ecological Considerations for Youth of Color
Saleem, F. T., Anderson, R. E., & Williams, M. (2020) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-019-00304-1 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Political activism and mental health among Black and Latinx college students
Hope, E. C., Velez, G., Offidani-Bertrand, C., Keels, M., & Durkee, M. I. (2018) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/cdp0000144 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
<scp>EMBR</scp> ace: Developing a Racial Socialization Intervention to Reduce Racial Stress and Enhance Racial Coping among Black Parents and Adolescents
Anderson, R. E., McKenny, M. C., & Stevenson, H. C. (2019) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/famp.12412 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Moderation Practices as Emotional Labor in Sustaining Online Communities: The Case of AAPI Identity Work on Reddit
Dosono, B., & Semaan, B. (2019) · Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300372 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Perceived Discrimination and Physical Health Among HIV-Positive Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men
Bogart, L. M., Landrine, H., Galvan, F. H., Wagner, G. J., & Klein, D. J. (2013) · AIDS and Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10461-012-0397-5 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future
Traxler, A. L., Cid, X. C., Blue, J., & Barthelemy, R. (2016) · Physical Review Physics Education Research · doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.12.020114 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
“It's not in your head”: Gaslighting, ‘splaining, victim blaming, and other harmful reactions to microaggressions
Johnson, V. E., Nadal, K. L., Sissoko, D. R. G., & King, R. (2021) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916211011963 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Self-citation
In Pursuit of Antiracist Social Justice: Denaturalizing Whiteness in the Academic Library
Brook, F., Ellenwood, D., & Lazzaro, A. E. (2015) · Library Trends · doi:10.1353/lib.2015.0048 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Science That Matters: The Importance of a Cultural Connection in Underrepresented Students’ Science Pursuit
Jackson, M. C., Galvez, G., Landa, I., Buonora, P., & Thoman, D. B. (2016) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.16-01-0067 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
“…from a URM group does not directly experience overt discrimination, he or she is likely to face regular experiences with racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007, 2009), carry the burden of worrying that his or her performance will be judged through a stereotyped lens (Steele and Aronson,…”
Background
People of color in North America report improvements in racial trauma and mental health symptoms following psychedelic experiences
Williams, M. T., Davis, A. K., Xin, Y., Sepeda, N. D., Grigas, P. C., Sinnott, S., & Haeny, A. M. (2021) · Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy · doi:10.1080/09687637.2020.1854688 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
An Item Factor Analysis and Item Response Theory-Based Revision of the Everyday Discrimination Scale
Stucky, B. D., Gottfredson, N. C., Panter, A. T., Daye, C. E., Allen, W. R., & Wightman, L. F. (2011) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0023356 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
The influence of internalized racism on the relationship between discrimination and anxiety
Sosoo, E. E., Bernard, D. L., & Neblett, E. W. (2020) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/cdp0000320 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Microaggressions towards people affected by mental health problems: a scoping review
Barber, S., Gronholm, P. C., Ahuja, S., Rüsch, N., & Thornicroft, G. (2020) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796019000763 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Forms of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Suicidal Ideation: A Prospective Examination of African-American and Latinx Youth
Madubata, I., Spivey, L. A., Alvarez, G. M., Neblett, E. W., & Prinstein, M. J. (2022) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2019.1655756 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Learning While Black: A Culturally Informed Model of the Impostor Phenomenon for Black Graduate Students
Stone, S., Saucer, C., Bailey, M., Garba, R., Hurst, A., Jackson, S. M., Krueger, N., & Cokley, K. (2018) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/0095798418786648 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Superwoman Schema and John Henryism among African American women: An intersectional perspective on coping with racism
Perez, A. D., Dufault, S. M., Spears, E. C., Chae, D. H., Woods-Giscombe, C. L., & Allen, A. M. (2023) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115070 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Oppression Within Safe Spaces: Exploring Racial Microaggressions Within Domestic Violence Shelters
Nnawulezi, N. A., & Sullivan, C. M. (2014) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/0095798413500072 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Historical Trauma, Substance Use, and Indigenous Peoples: Seven Generations of Harm from a “Big Event”
Nutton, J., & Fast, E. (2015) · Substance Use & Misuse · doi:10.3109/10826084.2015.1018755 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Prevalence of past-year mental disorders and its correlates among Chinese international students in US higher education
Lian, Z., & Wallace, B. C. (2020) · Journal of American College Health · doi:10.1080/07448481.2018.1538147 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Continuous Traumatic Stress and the Life Cycle: Exposure to Repeated Political Violence in Israel
Pat-Horenczyk, R., & Schiff, M. (2019) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-019-1060-x · Cited by 59 · see citing works
(In)-justice: An exploration of the dehumanization, victimization, criminalization, and over-incarceration of Indigenous women in Canada
McGuire, M. M., & Murdoch, D. J. (2022) · Punishment & Society · doi:10.1177/14624745211001685 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Reducing microaggressions and promoting interracial connection: The racial harmony workshop
Williams, M. T., Kanter, J. W., Peña, A., Ching, T. H. W., & Oshin, L. (2020) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.04.008 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Understanding and addressing racial stress and trauma in schools: A pathway toward resistance and healing
Saleem, F. T., Howard, T. C., & Langley, A. K. (2022) · Psychology in the Schools · doi:10.1002/pits.22615 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
The Protective Role of Mindfulness in the Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Depression
Shallcross, A. J., & Spruill, T. M. (2018) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0845-4 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Systems of Oppression: The Impact of Discrimination on Latinx Immigrant Adolescents’ Well-Being and Development
Torres, S. A., Sosa, S. S., Flores Toussaint, R. J., Jolie, S., & Bustos, Y. (2022) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12751 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Subtle ways of stigmatization among professionals: the subjective experience of consumers and their family members.
Amsalem, D., Hasson-Ohayon, I., Gothelf, D., & Roe, D. (2018) · Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal · doi:10.1037/prj0000310 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Black women’s experience of colorist microaggressions
Hall, J. C., & Crutchfield, J. (2018) · Social Work in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/15332985.2018.1430092 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Understanding the Impact of Micro-Aggressions on the Engagement of Undocumented Latino Immigrant Fathers: Debunking Deficit Thinking
Jimenez-Castellanos, O., & Gonzalez, G. (2012) · Journal of Latinos and Education · doi:10.1080/15348431.2012.715492 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
A Plea for Critical Race Theory Counterstory: Stock Story vs. Counterstory Dialogues Concerning Alejandra's 'Fit' in the Academy
Martinez, A. Y. (2016) · Performing Antiracist Pedagogy in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication · doi:10.37514/atd-b.2016.0933.2.03 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
There’s no place like home? African American women in the residence halls of a predominantly white Midwestern University
Haynes, C. S. (2019) · Gender and Education · doi:10.1080/09540253.2018.1484430 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Teaching social workers about microaggressions to enhance understanding of subtle racism
Fisher, A. K., Moore, D. J., Simmons, C., & Allen, S. C. (2017) · Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment · doi:10.1080/10911359.2017.1289877 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Collective Action in Response to Microaggression: Implications for Social Well-Being
Sohi, K. K., & Singh, P. (2015) · Race and Social Problems · doi:10.1007/s12552-015-9156-3 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
The Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Internalized Racism in Black Young Adults
Kline, E. A., Warner, C. M., Grapin, S. L., Reyes-Portillo, J. A., Bixter, M. T., Cunningham, D. J., Mahmud, F., Singh, T., & Weeks, C. (2021) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/jcpsy-d-20-00030 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The subtle effects of implicit bias instructions
Lynch, M., Kidd, T., & Shaw, E. (2022) · Law & Policy · doi:10.1111/lapo.12181 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Foundations in Racism: a Novel and Contemporary Curriculum for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows
Legha, R. K., Richards, M., & Kataoka, S. H. (2021) · Academic Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s40596-021-01396-0 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
The Emergence of Racialized Labor and Racial Battle Fatigue in the African American Student Network (AFAM)
Grier-Reed, T., Maples, A., Williams-Wengerd, A., & McGee, D. (2020) · JCSCORE · doi:10.15763/issn.2642-2387.2020.6.2.95-135 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A seat at the table: Using social media as a platform to resolve microaggressions against transgender persons
Ingram, M. V., Speedlin, S., Cannon, Y., Prado, A., & Avera, J. (2017) · Journal of Creativity in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/15401383.2016.1248266 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
An intersectional review of discrimination and harassment experiences in pharmacy: Findings from the 2019 National Pharmacist Workforce Survey
Bakken, B. K., Gaither, C. A., Doucette, W. R., Witry, M. J., Kreling, D. H., Schommer, J. C., Arya, V., & Mott, D. A. (2021) · Journal of the American Pharmacists Association · doi:10.1016/j.japh.2021.04.002 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Examining the Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Race Relations on Public Opinion about the Overrepresentation of Black People in U.S. Prisons
Cooper, M., Updegrove, A. H., Gabbidon, S. L., Higgins, G. E., & Potter, H. (2021) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2020.1850579 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Computing Education Research Today
Fincher, S. A., Tenenberg, J., Dorn, B., Hundhausen, C., McCartney, R., & Murphy, L. (2019) · The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research · doi:10.1017/9781108654555.003 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
A pilot study of experiencing racial microaggressions, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and the role of psychological flexibility
Browning, M. E., Lloyd-Richardson, E. E., Satterfield, S. L., & Trisal, A. V. (2023) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465823000188 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
What's Respect Got to Do With It?: A Black Woman's Experience With the Role of Respect in Academia
Lewis, A. S. (2019) · Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-5942-9.ch009 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Reframing the impostor phenomenon for Black college students
Connaught, G. (2024) · Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice · doi:10.56433/pv5se246 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…as Derald Wing Sue have defined microaggressions as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color” (Sue et al., 2007, p. 271).”
Decentering Whiteness in the Academic Library: Investigating the Impact of Institutional Whiteness on Organizational Culture through a Case Study of a Grassroots Anti-Racist Community of Practice in an Academic Library
Farrier, V. (2024) · New Review of Academic Librarianship · doi:10.1080/13614533.2024.2328158

Authors: Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M.
Affiliations: Columbia University (US)
ORCID: Sue, Derald Wing
Nadal, Kevin L.
Venue: American Psychologist
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 2007-05
Volume: 62
Issue: 4
Pages: 271-286
ISSN: 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
1935-990X
DOI: 10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271
OpenAlex: W2021511019
Cited by: 5,569
References: 4
Citations by year: 2026: 333 · 2025: 481 · 2024: 478 · 2023: 504 · 2022: 503 · 2021: 544 · 2020: 433 · 2019: 394 · 2018: 326 · 2017: 297 · 2016: 281 · 2015: 216 · 2014: 206 · 2013: 176 · 2012: 115
FWCI: 78.55
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Keywords: racial microaggressions, everyday racism, aversive racism, microassaults, microinsults, microinvalidation, therapeutic relationship, counselor-client relationship, people of color, counselor education, helping professions
MeSH terms: Aggression, Humans, Prejudice, Psychology, Clinical, Social Desirability, Stereotyping, Racial Groups

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice.

Abstract

Integrity signals

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Cites

Cited by

Record

About these checks