A Relational Theory of Workplace Microaggressions

Authors:

Abstract: Although scholars largely assume that workplace microaggressions negatively impact the work relationship between the target and the perpetrator, there are also instances of relational restoration or even positive adaptation after a workplace microaggression. To coherently make sense of the myriad relational outcomes, we draw on theory on relational fractures and theory on intergroup relations to build new theory that specifies how and under what conditions varied relational outcomes may emerge. We theorize that a workplace microaggression, as a relational fracture, activates a target’s motivational system aimed at protecting the self at the expense of the relationship (a ‘self-protective motivation’). We then pinpoint the relational conditions under which targets may shift from a self-protective motivation to a relationship-promotive one (characterized by reflection and inquiry) and how, in turn, perpetrators may respond (in terms of the motivational system activated). We complete our theory by theorizing the conditions under which the pair of motivational systems activated leads to shallower or deeper levels of dyadic relational repair work, with consequences for the work relationship. Our theory offers important insights that challenge, redirect, and extend scholarship on workplace microaggressions.

Track: DEI

Keywords: microaggressions, discrimination, race, gender, sexual orientation, conceptual