ABSTRACT
This chapter describes O. Scott Lilienfeld’s concerns about the vagueness of the concept of racial and ethnic microaggressions and the subjectivity in the methodology of psychological microaggression studies. It addresses Lilienfeld’s concern that the vagueness of the microaggression concept indicates a lack of sufficient “scientific status” to be used in real-life situations. The chapter examines a positive note with the suggestion that investigating people of colors’ subjective experiences will address Lilienfeld’s conceptual and methodological critiques. Lilienfeld’s concerns about the “scientific status” of the microaggressions concept can be cashed out in terms of his worry about heterogeneity within the concept, which he suggests may range from intentionally prejudiced statements to “culturally insensitive faux pas” to “entirely innocuous statements”. Lilienfeld is correct that the majority of the microaggressions research program involves self-report methodologies. However, these studies take a less problematic form than Lilienfeld suggests.
