More and more employees have witnessed or even used verbal abuse. They are most often directed against ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability or other characteristics that make people different.
Microaggression is a term used for common everyday verbal or behavioral insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that create the perception of hostility, contempt, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.
Their opposites are micro-affirmations, also called micro-gestures, which may seem insignificant at first glance, but produce powerful results.
What are they?
Microaffirmations include nodding in support of what the speaker is saying, showing interest by asking questions, listening without interruption, and seeking eye contact during a conversation. Other examples are listening to different opinions without judgment, acknowledging different points of view, seeking input from others on a project during a meeting, and choosing words and tones of voice that convey a sense of inclusion and caring.
The scientific evidence
Dr. Mary P. Rowe, an assistant professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, has been studying workplace underrepresentation since 1973. She identified the enormous role that small, often unintentional actions play in discrimination. Unconscious bias can occur at times when people are perceived as different. Examples of this are confusing a person of a certain race with another person of the same race or shaking hands only when greeting men. These are subtle behaviors that send a signal of disrespect. While countering these micro-inequities through education and awareness is helpful, Dr. Rowe found in his 2008 study that the most effective way to change these practices is to substitute them with better behaviors—micro-affirmations.
Workplace application
Microaffirmations are non-random acts of kindness that can be used to combat unconscious bias in the workplace.
Spending time analyzing what words and actions make a person feel noticed and valued, and what creates feelings of disrespect and neglect, no matter how insignificant they may seem. When the ways in which words or gestures can make a person feel noticed or ignored are identified, a deliberate attempt can be made to use more gestures of kindness and affirmation in everyday life.
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