Public Understandings of Microaggressions and the Harm They Do

Microaggressions are brief, everyday indignities directed at individuals based on their (perceived) membership in a marginalized social group. The concept highlights the microlevel dynamics of oppression and the everyday nature of social injustice. While research has documented their harmful effects – particularly in U.S. contexts – questions remain about how microaggressions are understood by the broader public, and how such understandings shape the concept’s communicative value. This study examined public familiarity with and interpretations of microaggressions among a representative sample of Dutch citizens (n = 1,064; including 530 women, 530 men, and 4 respondents who self-identified differently; mean age = 48 years). Respondents completed an online questionnaire that combined closed- and open-ended items. They were asked whether they had heard of the term microaggression, to describe a personal or fictional example, and to rate and explain how harmful they considered such acts to be. Open-text answers were thematically analyzed for the nature and context of microaggressions, and for factors shaping harm judgments. Findings show that the concept was not widely known: 76.8% of respondents had never heard of it. Even after being presented with a definition, nearly a quarter (24.5%) did or could not provide an example. Analyzing the remaining 775 descriptions of microaggressions alongside evaluations of their harm, we found that microaggressions were often conceptualized as interpersonal insult regularly detached from structural oppression, with harm judgments focused primarily on individual impact. Hence, microaggressions are not yet a widely understood concept in the Dutch public sphere, which limits their capacity to articulate everyday manifestations of social injustice. For the framework to serve this function, its communicative function might require more accessible language, culturally relevant examples, and greater emphasis on both individual and structural dimensions of harm.