The role of microaggressions has gained increasing philosophical attention in recent years. However, microaggressions only tell part of the story. An often-overlooked component of inequality is the uneven and unjust distribution of microaffirmations. In this paper, I give a new definition of microaffirmations as signals that a recipient belongs to some valued or high-status class. Microaffirmations can—but need not—lead individuals to gain a sense of confidence, belonging, and merit. I then explain the harms of microaffirmations, arguing that when microaffirmations are distributed inequitably, they can have larger ramifications for injustice, harming some vulnerable groups more than others. In addition, microaffirmations can lead individual actors to make choices based on who gives them microaffirmations and where they receive them, and thus can have outsized influence over the direction of an individual’s life because individuals tend to migrate to where they feel valued, appreciated, and included. I then turn to solutions to the problems I raise. I argue we should attend to and attempt to rectify inequalities in microaffirmations because doing so can help ensure not just the absence of negative attention, but also that the presence of positive attention is flowing in a just and equitable way.

近年来，微侵略的作用在哲学上得到了越来越多的关注。但是，微侵略只能说出故事的一部分。不平等的一个经常被忽视的因素是微肯定的不均衡和不公正的分布。在本文中，我对微确认给出了新的定义，即信号确认接收者属于某个有价值或高地位的类别。微肯定可以（但不是必须）引导个人获得信心，归属感和优点。然后，我解释了微肯定的危害，认为当微肯定不公平地分布时，它们可能对不公正现象产生更大的影响，对某些弱势群体的伤害要大于对其他弱势群体的伤害。此外，微确认可以引导个体参与者根据谁给予微确认以及在何处获得微确认来做出选择，因此，由于个人倾向于迁移到他们认为受到重视，欣赏和包容的地方，因此可能会对个人的生活方向产生巨大影响。然后，我转向提出的问题的解决方案。我认为，我们应该关注并尝试纠正微肯定中的不平等现象，因为这样做不仅可以帮助确保缺乏消极关注，而且可以确保正当关注的存在以公正和公平的方式流动。