Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Prior literature has determined marginalization to be a key predictor of decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). Decent work is work that provides fair pay, safe conditions, adequate rest, access to health care, and alignment with personal and social values. Microaggressions are subtle acts of discrimination towards people and have been shown to have strong effects in the workplace (e.g., Lui & Quezada, 2019). Microaggressions are a form of marginalization that is correlated with poorer psychological, occupational, and identity-related outcomes for employed LGBTQ+ individuals (e.g., Nadal, 2019; Cancela et al., 2025). There is a dearth in research that evaluates which specific dimensions of microaggressions contribute most strongly to workplace outcomes. Our study aims to help fill the gap in the literature by examining which domains of microaggressions (heteronormative assumptions, workplace value, and cisnormative culture; Resnick & Galupo, 2019) are associated with perceptions of decent work. To do this, we conducted a three-time-point, longitudinal study using 366 LGBT workers. In the current work, we determined which specific forms of microaggression were distinctively associated with perceptions of decent work. Correlations, regressions, and path analyses examined associations among the microaggression dimensions, social pain minimization, and decent work. We tested whether social pain minimization mediated the relationships between the dimensions of microaggressions and decent work. Social pain minimization is the tendency to downplay, dismiss, or invalidate the significance of emotional pain caused by interpersonal rejection or mistreatment. We used the Social Pain Minimization Scale and the Decent Work Scale to measure social pain minimization and perceptions of decent work, respectively (Benbow et al., 2022; Duffy et al., 2016). Our results showed that heteronormative assumptions most strongly predicted perceptions of decent work. Cisnormative culture did not predict decent work. When all three dimensions of microaggressions were entered simultaneously, heteronormative assumptions was the only dimension that uniquely predicted decent work. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of all three microaggression dimensions on decent work through social pain minimization. These findings highlight which types of microaggressions most strongly affect perceptions of decent work, and show that the dimensions of microaggressions are not equally consequential. Heteronormative assumptions appear particularly consequential for LGBTQ+ workers' perceptions of decent work. This suggests that treating workplace microaggressions as one construct may obscure meaningful differences among forms of marginalizing experiences. Practically, this identifies more specific targets for organizational interventions intended to maximize decent work.
Date
November 2026
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
Included in
Microaggressions Predict Decent Work in LGBTQ Employees
Prior literature has determined marginalization to be a key predictor of decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). Decent work is work that provides fair pay, safe conditions, adequate rest, access to health care, and alignment with personal and social values. Microaggressions are subtle acts of discrimination towards people and have been shown to have strong effects in the workplace (e.g., Lui & Quezada, 2019). Microaggressions are a form of marginalization that is correlated with poorer psychological, occupational, and identity-related outcomes for employed LGBTQ+ individuals (e.g., Nadal, 2019; Cancela et al., 2025). There is a dearth in research that evaluates which specific dimensions of microaggressions contribute most strongly to workplace outcomes. Our study aims to help fill the gap in the literature by examining which domains of microaggressions (heteronormative assumptions, workplace value, and cisnormative culture; Resnick & Galupo, 2019) are associated with perceptions of decent work. To do this, we conducted a three-time-point, longitudinal study using 366 LGBT workers. In the current work, we determined which specific forms of microaggression were distinctively associated with perceptions of decent work. Correlations, regressions, and path analyses examined associations among the microaggression dimensions, social pain minimization, and decent work. We tested whether social pain minimization mediated the relationships between the dimensions of microaggressions and decent work. Social pain minimization is the tendency to downplay, dismiss, or invalidate the significance of emotional pain caused by interpersonal rejection or mistreatment. We used the Social Pain Minimization Scale and the Decent Work Scale to measure social pain minimization and perceptions of decent work, respectively (Benbow et al., 2022; Duffy et al., 2016). Our results showed that heteronormative assumptions most strongly predicted perceptions of decent work. Cisnormative culture did not predict decent work. When all three dimensions of microaggressions were entered simultaneously, heteronormative assumptions was the only dimension that uniquely predicted decent work. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of all three microaggression dimensions on decent work through social pain minimization. These findings highlight which types of microaggressions most strongly affect perceptions of decent work, and show that the dimensions of microaggressions are not equally consequential. Heteronormative assumptions appear particularly consequential for LGBTQ+ workers' perceptions of decent work. This suggests that treating workplace microaggressions as one construct may obscure meaningful differences among forms of marginalizing experiences. Practically, this identifies more specific targets for organizational interventions intended to maximize decent work.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology