Microaggressions often lead to negative impacts on workplace culture and productivity, but perpetrators and targets can work to repair their relationship — and potentially even strengthen it, according to a March 10 paper from MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School researchers.
Microaggressions, which are slights that tend to undermine social identity, typically come from a person with a dominant social identity and are directed at someone with a marginalized social identity. Previous theories have suggested that workplace relationships become damaged after a microaggression, but that may depend on the relationship between the perpetrator and target, the research posits.
“There are different pathways people can follow after a microaggression,” Basima Tewfik, an assistant professor of work and organization studies at MIT Sloan, said in a statement. “Part of it is trying to understand the different motivations people have going into it. We unpack what those trajectories are, while recognizing that it’s really hard to get on to that good trajectory.”
Microaggressions feel painful to the target, often ruin workplace relationships and can affect culture because they attack a person’s identity. In response, targets often take on a self-protective stance, avoid the perpetrator or withdraw at work.
Instead, the MIT Sloan researchers advised helping targets shift their mindset to focus on the relationship with their co-worker, which can be effective in some circumstances. If the target had more positive interactions with the perpetrator in the past, they may be more likely to consider working on the relationship.
Similarly, if the target felt close to the perpetrator before the microaggression or had a reason to maintain the relationship for work purposes, the two employees are more likely to move toward a more positive trajectory.
At the same time, the perpetrator’s response is critical after a microaggression, the researchers said. Some perpetrators may see a self-protective reaction as a threat to their own self-image, and if so, they may become hostile or withdraw. But if the same relationship factors apply — mostly positive prior interactions, closeness and investment in a future relationship — then they may be less defensive and more likely to repair the damage, researchers said.
To foster openness on both sides, leaders can encourage healthy resolutions around microaggressions, support a culture with positive collaboration and build a workplace where people feel they’re doing meaningful work, the researchers concluded.
Microaggressions can have a “macro” impact in the workplace by signaling disrespect, causing stress and negatively affecting a worker’s career and health, according to a McKinsey and Co. report. Women are twice as likely to experience microaggressions, and double-marginalized workers — such as women of color, LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities — experience microaggressions between two to six times as often as their male counterparts.
Even during the hiring process, nearly half of women report gender bias and discrimination, including microaggressions such as inappropriate questions or assumptions, according to a report from The Muse. Women in the C-suite are even more likely to report bias and discrimination.
To further help employees feel included, companies can offer access to resources, senior managerial support, psychological safety with a direct manager and equal opportunity for success, according to a Boston Consulting Group report. In particular, flexible work schedules, learning and development opportunities and mentorship programs can help.
“People will be more willing to work together,” Tewfik said. “It’s really important to develop this more holistic perspective around what we know about relationship consequences because, if you take bad outcomes for granted, it can make you feel really locked in at a time when workplaces are becoming more diverse.”
