Development and initial validation of the Inventory of Microaggressions Against Black Individuals.

2011/08/15 by Sterett H. Mercer, Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Virgil Zeigler‐Hill +3 · 119 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Black male #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Distress #Measure (data warehouse) #Mental health #Migration, Health and Trauma #Psychological distress #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research #Social desirability #Social psychology #Stress (linguistics)

paper · doi:10.1037/a0024937

published in Journal of Counseling Psychology 58(4), 457-469 (American Psychological Association)

openalex publication_date 2011/08/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

The present article describes the development and initial validation of the Inventory of Microaggressions Against Black Individuals (IMABI) using a sample of 385 undergraduates who self-identified as Black or African American. The IMABI is a 14-item, unidimensional measure of racial microaggressions that captures both microinsults and microinvalidations. The present findings support the IMABI as a reliable and valid measure of microaggressions that was associated with general distress and perceived stress. Importantly, the association between the IMABI and psychological adjustment persisted even when social desirability and another measure of race-related stress were included in the analyses. Discussion focuses on the potential implications of the IMABI for understanding the daily experiences and psychological adjustment of Black individuals.

Citations

• Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice.

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