Woke: Investigating Racial Awareness as a Moderator of Racial Microaggression Response in Minority College Students

Abstract

Racial microaggressions are defined as "daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities… that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights… to the target person or group" (Sue, et al, 2007). Research in the field of Social Psychology on racial microaggressions has revealed the extensive emotional, psychological, and physiological impacts racial microaggressions have on target persons of color. Although, these impacts have been well documented, the specific role racial awareness—defined as an individual’s knowledge of racial dynamics in America—plays in moderating these impacts has not yet been studied. Similarly, the neurological impacts of racial microaggressions have yet to be studied in the field of Neuroscience despite the strong basis for their investigation that exists through the connection between physiological stress and the brain. To study these gaps in tandem, this thesis investigates the moderating effect a student’s level of racial awareness has on their emotional and physiological reactions to witnessing a microaggressive incident. The study hypothesized that 1) minority students with higher levels of racial awareness will show greater negative affect after witnessing a microaggressive incident and 2) the physiological reactions to witnessing a microaggressive incident of minority students with higher levels of racial awareness will subside faster as compared to students with lower levels of racial awareness. Results on participants’ physiological reactions support the hypothesis that minority students with higher levels of racial awareness achieve faster homeostatic recovery after witnessing a microaggression. Taken together, the results demonstrate the value of the components of racial awareness, such as race-based diversity courses, for both minority and white undergraduate students.