Abstract:
We examined two forms of social exclusion toward Afro-Brazilians
commonly found in the United States, ostracism and racial microaggressions.
We utilized a mixed-methods (quantitative-experimental and qualitative)
approach to investigate ostracism and a qualitative focus group approach
to study racial microaggressions. In Study 1 (N = 29), we experimentally
investigated ostracism through a recall paradigm in which participants wrote
about being either included or ostracized. An independent t test showed
that participants in the ostracized condition reported significantly worse
psychological outcomes than those in the included condition (p < .001). We
coded participants’ written responses by whether they included attributions
of racial bias by experimental condition. A Pearson chi-square analysis
(p = .017) revealed that racial bias was mentioned in 75% of the cases in
the ostracized condition. Studies 2a and 2b (Ns = 6 and 8, respectively) consisted of two focus groups in different regions of Brazil that asked
participants about their experiences with racial microaggressions. We
found similarities to previous microaggression categories identified in the
United States, extending our understanding of how microaggressions evoke
feelings of social exclusion, which also occur when someone is ostracized.
