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Racial microaggressions, or subtle race-based insults are associated with negative consequences for receivers. Institutional racism in education directly influences the dissemination of these transgressions in schools, as school personnel may engage in microaggressive behavior toward each other and their students. Given recent calls to address racism, schools and districts may seek to implement trainings to improve school personnel's understanding of these transgressions and their consequences. As part of the current study, we explored factors that might contribute to school personnel's satisfaction with a microaggression training. Participants completed survey items to assess their colorblind racial attitudes, satisfaction with the workshop, and their perceptions surrounding the need for such trainings. We found that colorblind attitudes and perceptions of necessity predicted satisfaction. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. Impact Statement Calls to address racial injustice in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor during the summer of 2021 have produced an increase in requests for antiracism workshops and trainings across several organizations and professions. In K–12 schools, these trainings may be beneficial in helping school personnel learn about and address racial microaggressions (race-based insults), which may hinder students' success. Although it is imperative that these conversations take place, it is equally important that we are able to understand how school personnel engage in these trainings to increase the likelihood that their behavior will change because of participation. The goal of this study was to understand factors that contribute to school personnel's satisfaction with a microaggression training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that exposure to microaggressions diminishes cognitive resources. Using in vivo experimental methodology, we found that engagement in a breathing exercise may mask the effects of cognitive depletion in Black college women who are exposed to racial microaggressions. Sixty-one Black college women were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which a microaggressive script and coping suggestion were crossed. Participants who were exposed to microaggressions enacted by a white research assistant and asked to wait were more depleted than those who were not exposed to microaggressions at all. Participants who heard the microaggressive language and were prompted to cope were marginally less depleted than those who were exposed without prompting to engage in a coping exercise. These findings align with prior findings that racially hostile university environments may have harmful consequences on the cognitive functioning of Black women, but engagement in coping may diminish these effects. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research suggests that school psychologists are generally satisfied with their experiences in the field, scholars have yet to examine how exposure to racial microaggressions, or subtle race-based insults, may impact satisfaction. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relation between exposure to microaggressions and satisfaction among practicing school psychologists, students, and university faculty. We were particularly interested in the role of race. We collected survey data from 93 school psychologists, and found that exposure to microaggressions predicted reported satisfaction with jobs and placements, but that the relation was only relevant for People of Color (POC). We also found that the relation between microaggression exposure and satisfaction was moderated by the demographic of one's work setting, as POC in settings that were primarily Black and Brown reported less satisfaction when they experienced high levels of microaggressions. Future directions and implications for the field of school psychology are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated how engagement in activism among white women is predicted by their political efficacy, exposure to gendered microaggressions (i.e., verbal and/or nonverbal slights targeting a subordinate gender identity), and color-blind racial attitudes. We recruited 93 white undergraduate women for whom exposure to gendered microaggressions, color-blind racial attitudes, and political efficacy explained a significant proportion of variance in participants' ratings of political activism on social media, although these predictors did not significantly explain a proportion of the variance in their in-person political activism (e.g., rally attendance). We discuss how these findings relate to the current literature, as well as implications and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racial microaggressions are receiving growing attention in the research literature, as we know that they negatively impact People of Color. We explored the impact of a bystander to microaggression workshop that was implemented at a Predominantly White Institution. Participants were randomly assigned to the workshop condition or received a control intervention about ethics that did not address microaggression. We administered pre- and posttest surveys to assess knowledge and measures to assess color-blind attitudes and the degree to which participants felt such trainings are necessary. We found that the intervention was successful in improving participants' understanding of microaggressions and that higher endorsement of color-blind racial attitudes predicted less satisfaction with workshop, which was explained by interpretation of microaggressions unharmful. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the relation between color-blind racial attitudes (i.e., the perspective that race should not and does not matter; Neville et al., 2007) and perceptions of microaggressions (i.e., identity-based insults) among students at Predominantly White Institutions, as the literature suggests that experiences with these transgressions may be heightened for Students of Color attending these universities. After completing survey items and being exposed to several vignettes, participants were asked to rate the degree to which they found the scenarios offensive or problematic. Results of the study suggest that individuals who hold stronger color-blind racial attitudes are less likely to perceive microaggressive situations as offensive. Implications for addressing microaggressions particularly among white students in higher education holding color-blind attitudes are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers sought to demonstrate that live exposure to racial microaggressions would lead to immediate cognitive depletion among Black college women at a predominantly White institution, if they identified race as central to their self-concept. One week prior to visiting the research lab, participants completed a measure of racial centrality via an online survey. Those assigned to the microaggression condition were exposed to racial microaggressions from a White research assistant, as opposed to those in the control condition who heard benign comments. Exposure led to cognitive depletion, as measured by Stroop, but racial centrality did not significantly moderate the relationship. These findings offer evidence that a hostile university environment could have deleterious consequences on the cognitive functioning of Black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]