Racial Microaggressions Experiences Among International Students in Australia and its Impact on Stress and Psychological Wellbeing
RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Keywords:
racial microaggressions, international students, racism, REMS, microaggressions in Australia, stress, psychological wellbeingAbstract
International students are underrepresented in Australian health literature, and this population is especially vulnerable to the well-documented negative impacts associated with racial microaggressions in their adjustment to settling in the new society, as well as to the many challenges they already face as international students. This study investigated the prevalence of racial microaggressions among international students and its impact on stress and psychological wellbeing. This research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic which has been documented to contribute to anti-Asian racism. Participants included 54 international students, of which 72% were Asian. The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Perceived General Wellbeing Indicator (PGWBI) were used to measure the participants’ responses. All participants reported experiencing racial microaggression in the last six months, and significant correlations and regression models were found between REMS, certain elements of the PSS scale and time in Australia. Despite the small sample size, this research corroborated outcomes from recent studies and provided insight into the prevalence and impact of racial microaggressions among such populations, highlighting the need for further exploration.
References
References
Asian Australian Alliance, & Chiu, O. (2020). Reporting racism against Asians in Australia arising due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 Coronavirus Racism Incident Report. Retrieved from http://diversityarts.org.au/app/uploads/COVID19-racism-incident-report-Preliminary-Official.pdf
Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Racism. It stops with me. Retrieved from https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/riswm-partners/advocates
Australian Government. (2020). August infographic. International student data: Monthly summary. Retrieved from https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/MONTHLY%20SUMMARIES/2020/Aug%202020%20MonthlyInfographic.pdf
Blume, A. W., Lovato, L. V., Thyken, B. N., & Denny, N. (2012). The relationship of microaggressions with alcohol use and anxiety among ethnic minority college students in a historically white institution. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(1), 45-54. doi:10.1037/a0025457
Boals, A., vanDellen, M. R., & Banks, J. B. (2011). The relationship between self-control and health: The mediating effect of avoidant coping. Psychology & Health, 26(8), 1049-1062. doi:10.1080/08870446.2010.529139
Bolin, R. M., Pate, M., & McClintock, J. (2019). The impact of alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement among college students. The Social Science Journal, 54(4), 430-437. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2017.08.003
Bonazzo, C., & Wong, Y. J. (2007). Japanese international female students' experience of discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes. College Student Journal, 41(3), 631-639.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 38-396. doi:10.2307/2136404
Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2004). Aversive racism. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 4-56. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(04)36001-6
Dupuy, H. J. (1984). The psychological general well-being (PGWB) index. In: N. K. Wenger, M. E. Mattson, C. D. Furberg, & J. Elison (Eds.), Assessment of Quality of Life in clinical trials of cardiovascular therapies (pp.170-183). Darien, CT: Le Jacq Publishing.
Franklin, A. J., Boyd-Franklin, N., & Kelly, S. (2006). Racism and invisibility: Race-related stress, emotional abuse and psychological trauma for people of color. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 6(2-3), 9-30. doi:10.1300/J135v06n02_02
Gibbons, F. X., O'Hara, R. E., Stock, M. L., Gerrard, M., Weng, C., & Wills, T. A. (2012). The erosive effects of racism: Reduced self-control mediates the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use in African American adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(5), 1089-1104. doi:10.1037/a0027404
Gonzales, H. (2010). The acculturative stress experience of international students: Acculturative stress experience of chinese and indonesian international students. Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP).
Graycar, A. (2010). Racism and the tertiary student experience in Australia. The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Retrieved from https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/publications/racism-and-tertiary-student-experience-australia-adam
Grossi, E., & Compare, A. (2012). Psychological General Wellbeing Index. In Michalos A. (Ed.), Quality of Life Encyclopedia (pp. 5152-5156). Dordrecht, NL: Springers Netherlands.
Hernández, R. J., & Villodas, M. (2019). Collectivistic coping responses to racial microaggressions associated with Latina/o college persistence attitudes. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 7(1), 76-90. doi:10.1037/lat0000107
Heu, L. C., van Zomeren, M., & Hansen, N. (2018). Lonely alone or lonely together? A cultural-psychological examination of individualism–collectivism and loneliness in five European countries. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 45(5), 780-793. doi:10.1177/0146167218796793
Hingson, R., Heeren, T., Winter, M., & Wechsler, H. (2005). Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among US college students ages 18–24: Changes from 1998 to 2001. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 259-279. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144652
Houshmand, S., Spanierman, L. B., & Tafarodi, R. W. (2014). Excluded and avoided: Racial microaggressions targeting Asian international students in Canada. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(3), 377-388. doi:10.1037/a0035404
Holder, A. M. B., Jackson, M. A., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2015). Racial microaggression experiences and coping strategies of black women in corporate leadership. Qualitative Psychology, 2(2), 164-180. doi:10.1037/qup0000024
Human Rights Watch. (2020). Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide
Johnson, R., Leighton, L., & Caldwell, C. (2018). The embodied experience of microaggressions: Implications for clinical practice. Journal of Multicultural Counselling and Development, 46(3), 156-170. doi:10.1002/jmcd.12099
Lander, V., & Santoro, N. (2017). Invisible and hypervisible academics: The experiences of Black and minority ethnic teacher educators. Teaching in Higher Education, 22(8), 1008-1021. doi:10.1080/13562517.2017.1332029
Li, Y. (2019). "It's Not Discrimination": Chinese migrant workers' perceptions of and reactions to racial microaggressions in Australia. Sociological Perspectives, 62(4), 554-571. doi:10.1177/0731121419826583
Liamputtong, P. (2011). International students in Australia: Their challenges and implications for university counselling services. International Journal of Students’ Research, 1(1), 8-11.
Lilly, F. R. W., Owens, J., Bailey, T. C., Ramirez, A., Brown, W., & Clawson, C. (2018). The influence of racial microaggressions and social rank on risk for depression among minority graduate and professional students. College Student Journal, 52(1), 86.
Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological Review, 106(1), 3-19. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.3
Mitchell, D., Steele, T., Marie, J., & Timm, K. (2017). Learning race and racism while learning: Experiences of international students pursuing higher education in the midwestern united states. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Open, 3(3), 1-15. doi:10.1177/2332858417720402
Mohamad, M., Mohammad, M., Ali, N. A. M., & Awang, Z. (2016). The impact of life satisfaction on substance abuse: Delinquency as a mediator. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 23(1), 25-35. doi:10.1080/02673843.2016.1267021
Molina, K. M., Alegría, M., & Mahalingam, R. (2013). A multiple-group path analysis of the role of everyday discrimination on self-rated physical health among Latina/os in the USA. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45, 33-44. doi:10.1007/s12160-012-9421-2
Nadal, K. L. (2011). The racial and ethnic microaggressions scale (REMS): Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 470-480. doi:10.1037/a0025193
Nadal, K. L., Griffin, K. E., Wong, Y., Hamit, S., & Rasmus, M. (2014). The impact of racial microaggressions on mental health: Counseling implications for clients of color. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92(1), 57-66. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00130.x
Nadal, K. L., Griffin, K. E., Wong, Y., Davidoff, K. C., & Davis, L. S. (2017). The injurious relationship between racial microaggressions and physical health: Implications for social work. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 26(1-2), 6-17. doi:10.1080/15313204.2016.1263813
National Health and Medical Research Council (2018). National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) - Updated 2018. Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/national-statement-ethical-conduct-human-research-2007-updated-2018#toc__1533
O'Keefe, V. M., Wingate, L. R., Cole, A. B., Hollingsworth, D. W., & Tucker, R. P. (2015). Seemingly harmless racial communications are not so harmless: Racial microaggressions lead to suicidal ideation by way of depression symptoms. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 45(5), 567-576. doi:10.1111/sltb.12150
Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students' need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323-367. doi:10.3102/00346543070003323
Pascoe, E. A., & Richman, L. S. (2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135(4), 531-554. doi:10.1037/a0016059
Pierce, C. M., Carew, J. V., Pierce-Gonzalez, D., & Wills, D. (1977). An experiment in racism: TV commercials. Education and Urban Society, 10(1), 61-87. doi:10.1177/001312457701000105
Poyrazli, S., & Lopez, M. D. (2007). An exploratory study of perceived discrimination and homesickness: A comparison of international students and American students. The Journal of Psychology, 141(3), 263-280. doi: 10.3200/JRLP.141.3.263-280
Sakurai, T., McCall-Wolf, F., & Kashima, E. S. (2010). Building intercultural links: The impact of a multicultural intervention programme on social ties of international students in Australia. International journal of intercultural relations, 34(2), 176-185. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.11.002
Schoulte, J. C., Schultz, J. M., & Altmaier, E. M. (2011). Forgiveness in response to cultural microaggressions. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 24, 291-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2011.634266
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. The American Psychologist, 62(4), 271-286. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271
Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Torres-Harding, S. R., Andrade, A. L., & Diaz, C. E. R. (2012). The racial microaggressions scale (RMAS): A new scale to measure experiences of racial microaggressions in people of color. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(2), 153-164. doi:10.1037/a0027658
Torres, L., & Taknint, J. T. (2015). Ethnic microaggressions, traumatic stress symptoms, and latino depression: A moderated mediational model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(3), 393-401. doi:10.1037/cou0000077
Tran, L., Bui, H., & Balakrishnan, V. D. (2020). Forms of racism and discrimination faced by international students. Melbourne, VIC: Council of International Students Australia (CISA).
Wang, J., Leu, J., & Shoda, Y. (2011). When the seemingly innocuous “stings”: Racial microaggressions and their emotional consequences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(12), 1666-1678. doi:10.1177/0146167211416130
Williams, M. G., & Lewis, J. A. (2019). Gendered racial microaggressions and depressive symptoms among black women: A moderated mediation model. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 43(3), 368-380. doi:10.1177/0361684319832511
Yeo, H. T., Mendenhall, R., Harwood, S. A., & Huntt, M. B. (2019). Asian international student and Asian American student: Mistaken identity and racial microaggressions. Journal of International Students, 9(1), 39-65. doi:10.32674/jis.v9i1.278
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The findings, interpretations, conclusions, and views expressed in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to CIES, HESIG, or the sponsoring universities of the Editorial Staff. These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute articles that appear in JCIHE as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and JCIHE, it is distributed for non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. All other uses must be approved by the author(s) or JCIHE. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to transfer without charge the following rights to JCIHE upon acceptance of the manuscript: first worldwide serial publication rights and the right for JCIHE to grant permissions as its editors judge appropriate for the redistribution of the article, its abstract, and metadata associated with the article in professional indexing and reference services.
