Microagressões e autoestima de profissionais LGBT durante a pandemia COVID-19

Abstract

Prejudice, discrimination and hostility are phenomena frequently experienced by the LGBT population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the perception of discrimination and the negative impacts on the health and well-being of these people were enhanced. Such discriminations can occur in different ways, ranging from the most overt to the subtle. Microaggressions, or subtle discriminations, are verbal, behavioral or environmental abjections that convey contempt and insults, expressed with or without intentionality, aimed at people belonging to minorities. This work sought to investigate the correlation between experiences of microaggressions at work and self-esteem of LGBT professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and possible differences in the averages by age groups and time of organization. Participants were 206 LGBT professionals who answered the Scale of experiences of LGBT microaggressions at work, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, Spearman correlation and Mann-Whitney tests for independent samples were performed. The results indicated a weak and negative correlation between self-esteem and two dimensions of microaggressions: values in the workplace and cisnormative culture. Professionals aged 30 years or older had higher averages in self-esteem and micro-aggressions of values in the workplace. Professionals with more than one year of organization had higher averages in self-esteem; those aged up to one year had higher averages in the three dimensions of microaggressions (workplace values, heteronormative assumptions, and cisnormative culture). This work is a pioneer in the study of LGBT microaggressions at work in Brazil and its results contribute to the advancement of understanding of the experience of this population.