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Simulating Microaggressions in Organizational Environments: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach to Psychological Safety and Intervention Design
Edwin Montes-Orozco, Román A. Mora-Gutiérrez, Eric A. Rincón-García, Sergio G. De-Los-Cobos-Silva, Miguel A. Gutiérrez-Andrade and Pedro Lara-Velázquez
Microaggressions constitute a persistent yet often underestimated source of psychological strain in organizational environments. Their subtle and ambiguous nature complicate detection and regulation, while their cumulative effects contribute to emotional exhaustion, disengagement, and organizational silence. This study develops an agent-based modeling (ABM) framework to simulate the emergence and diffusion of microaggressions, emotional distress, and intervention outcomes within organizational social networks. Agents interact on a small-world topology and follow probabilistic behavioral rules grounded in empirical research on aggressors, bystanders, and targets. Three scenarios are evaluated: a baseline with no intervention, a bystander-training program, and a combined policy package integrating bystander training, perceived organizational support, and anonymous reporting. Results show that the combined intervention yields nonlinear improvements, including an approximate 55% reduction in microaggression incidents, a 41% increase in internal reporting, and a 35% faster recovery from emotional distress. The framework demonstrates the value of ABM as a decision-support tool for designing evidence-based organizational policies.
Keywords: Agent-based modeling, microaggressions, emotional contagion, organizational behavior, psychological safety, complex systems, computational social science, workplace inclusion