If you are easily offended by assaults on the English language and attacks on freedom of speech, you probably don’t want to read Ross Pomeroy’s history of the idea of the “microaggression” at RealClearScience. Every utterance, however anodyne, may well be a microaggression.
He also reports on one lonely psychologist’s reaction to the onslaught:
This one-sided view of microaggressions surprised Emory University Professor of Psychology Scott O. Lilienfeld, who sees a lot of problems with the term “microaggression” as well as the associated scientific work being conducted. He outlined a number of his concerns in a blistering review just published to the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Publically, Lilienfeld is best known for dispelling misconceptions about psychology in his book 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology. He’s a vocal advocate for evidence-based treatments and methods in his field, and has frequently policed his peers, encouraging them to pursue quality research practices. It was with that noble aim in mind that he turned his attention to microaggression research.
On the whole, Lilienfeld found the sub-field to be plagued with bias and sloppy methods. He also determined the definition of “microaggression” itself to be vague, allowing “a vast number of potential behaviors, many of which hinge on highly subjective retrospective judgments.” He further noted that “there is no evidence that microaggressions are statistically associated with aggression or prejudice in deliverers.” Lilienfeld also discovered that studies generally featured subjects strongly predisposed to believe in microaggressions and almost exclusively relied on subjective, self-reported data.
My advice is to care about other people. It’s impossible not to give offense to somebody. Express yourself naturally and freely but don’t go out of your way to be offensive. My experience has been that, when people know you care about them and their feelings and respect them, they’ll cut you some slack.
