After moving to a new country, migrants’ continuously evolving identities shape their sense of belonging to both their receiving society and ethnic groups. Research suggests that perceived discrimination plays a pivotal role in migrants’ identity processes, yet the distinct effects of blatant (e.g., overt insults, physical violence) vs. subtle (microaggressions) forms of discrimination have been overlooked. Furthermore, few studies have examined the complex identity processes involving intersectional migrant groups, such as migrant women, in post-colonial settings. To address these gaps, the present study adopts an intracategorical intersectional approach to understand how subtle vs. blatant discrimination shape the identities of foreign-born immigrant women within the Portuguese post-colonial context. A sample of 690 immigrant women born in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (among Portugal’s former colonies) participated in an online survey. Results showed that perceptions of subtle discrimination were related to increased ethnic identification and reduced identification with the receiving society. Moreover, participants’ orientations towards maintaining their heritage culture mediated the relation between subtle discrimination and both ethnic and receiving-society identification. In contrast, blatant discrimination was only directly associated with decreased ethnic identification. These results illustrate the relevance of subtle discrimination in the daily lives of immigrant women in Portugal, where microaggressions – everyday hidden messages perpetuated by the receiving majority - act as constant reminders of their marginalized positions and reinforce the perception of migrant and receiving societies as distinct and non-permeable social groups. Given the relevance of microaggressions for this population’s psychological outcomes, future research should further investigate this issue.

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Immigrant women,Microaggressions,Perceived Discrimination,Social identity