Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Deidre Marie Anglin
Second Advisor
Adriana Espinosa
Third Advisor
Diana Puñales-Morejon
Keywords
Racial Microaggressions, Racial Gaslighting, Self-Compassion, Anger, Racial and Ethnic Minority
Abstract
Racial microaggressions are momentary, subtle, and often unintentional comments or behaviors that nonetheless communicate negative race-based messages towards racially and ethnically minoritized individuals. Given the accumulated and differential impact of racial microaggressions on individuals' mental health over time, it is crucial to investigate its associations with specific mental health symptoms and intrapsychic alleviating factors. To further clarify which coping strategies for racial microaggressions can be more empowering versus harmful, it is also crucial to investigate the processes and mental health consequences that unfold when individuals choose to challenge racial microaggressions, such as racial gaslighting. Racial gaslighting is an insidious interpersonal process that entails the denial, invalidation, or rejection of racially and ethnically minoritized individual's felt experience of racism by an individual of more privileged social status. The present study aimed to: (1) assess the associations among racial microaggressions and mental health symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, two forms of paranoid ideation, and three dimensions of anger) in a multi-ethnic sample of adults (N = 196); (2) examine the role of self- compassion as potential moderator of these associations, (3) compare mental health outcomes between those who challenged versus did not challenge a racial microaggression; and (4) explore the emotional and behavioral experiences of participants who challenged a racial microaggression, including the degree to which they felt racially gaslit. The results indicated that: (1) racial microaggressions were positively related to poorer mental health outcomes, (2) self-compassion did not moderate any of these associations, (3) there were no mental health differences between participants who challenged a racial microaggression versus those who did not and (4) a high percentage of participants who challenged a racial microaggression endorsed racial gaslighting, and described experiences of feeling at blame or at fault for the racial microaggression. The results encourage clinicians to appreciate the complexity of the role of racial microaggressions in impacting the mental health of racially and ethnically minoritized individuals and prompt these individuals to consider the potential mental health implications associated with challenging a racial microaggression.
Recommended Citation
Pandit, Supriya, "Unveiling Invisible Wounds: Experiences Of Racial Microaggressions, Racial Gaslighting, And Mental Health Among Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Adults" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1207
