Microaggression Reports Amongst Adolescents in Israel: The Role of Ethnic Identity and Geographic Locality

Background and Purpose: Microaggressions are the covert, ambiguous, and chronic experiences of discrimination that, while potentially fleeting on their own, may be detrimental in accumulation.  While they have been found to impact wellbeing in the U.S., no research has taken place in Israel—especially not among high-schoolers who are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of discrimination given adolescence’s critical role in identity formation.  This research thus seeks to explore reports of microaggressions amongst Israeli adolescents in order to understand how exposure exists and differs by ethnic identity and geographic locality. 

Methods: A cross-sectional study exploring risk and resiliency factors for adolescents was conducted in Israel.  A bilingual, self-administered questionnaire was distributed across the country.  An adaptation of the structured 22-item Racial Microaggressions Scale (MAS) was included and treated as the outcome variable. A two-level nested random effects model was utilized to evaluate how reports of microaggressions varied by ethnic identity and the sub-district in which the respondent lived, when controlling for age, gender, SES, religiosity, national identity, psychological distress, and neighborhood heterogeneity. 

Results: 845 responses were analyzed.  Students identified as Ashkenazi (17.4%), Mizrahi (14%), Arab (11.5%), Palestinian (29.7%), Russian (1.4%), Ethiopian (3.4%), Bedouin (1.8%), or Other/Unspecified (21%). Overall, microaggression endorsement was low (Mean = 35.91 out of 88, SD = 13.27). Amongst ethnic groups, mean microaggression scores ranged from a low of 26.24 (Ashkenazi group, SD = 5.50) to a high of 53 (Ethiopian respondents, SD = 14.43).  In all, there were 12 sub-districts accounted for. Per district, the mean MAS score was 32.55 (SD =4.57).  In the final model, identifying as Arab (b = 8.17, p < .001), Palestinian (b = 6.46, p < .001), Ethiopian (b = 17.23, p < .001), or “Other” (b =4.94, p < .001), increased mean MAS scores, as did feeling not at all Israeli (b = 3.86, p < .001), being older (b = .94, p < .05), reporting more psychological distress (b = .58, p < .001), and more religiosity (b = 3.06, p < .01).  Identifying as male decreased mean MAS scores (b = -4.78, p < .001), while identifying as Mizrahi, Bedouin, having lower SES, or more neighborhood heterogeneity was not correlated.  Variation by sub-district only accounted for 1.9% of model variance.   

Conclusions and Implications: Though these results found less support for the idea that geographic location in Israel explains much variance in microaggression exposure, results did suggest that discrimination exposure may vary by ethnic minority status.  Most notably, students of Ethiopian descent reported the highest mean MAS score, indicating that discrimination felt within the Jewish population may be even more prominent than discrimination felt between Jewish and Arab populations.  The notable difference in mean MAS scores between students who did and did not feel Israeli may also be important to consider when attempting to assuage discrimination in the country.  Future research should explore how generating a more inclusive Israeli identity could decrease perceived discrimination exposure for adolescents.