When Does Differential Treatment Become Perceived Discrimination? An Intersectional Analysis in a Southern Brazilian Population

Despite ideals of equality and “racial democracy,” high levels of social inequality persist in contemporary Brazil. In addition, while the majority of the Brazilian population acknowledges the persistence of racism, high proportions of socially disadvantaged groups do not regard themselves as victims of discrimination. This study seeks to shed light on this issue by investigating the processes through which individuals come to interpret their experiences of mistreatment as discrimination. We ask: (1) How frequently do respondents perceive being treated differently due to a variety of social statuses alone and in combination? and (2) What factors are associated with respondents interpreting this differential treatment as “discrimination”? Data come from an ongoing cohort investigation, which included a representative sample of adults living in the urban area of Florianópolis. Results show that 45 percent of respondents experienced mistreatment and attributed it to two or more factors, such as social class, age, gender, and race. Perceptions of mistreatment based on social class were positively correlated with perceived mistreatment due to gender, place of residence, weight, race, and the way one dresses. Regression analyses revealed that interpreting differential treatment as stemming from multiple social statuses was the strongest predictor of respondents classifying their mistreatment as discrimination. Our findings highlight the importance of disentangling perceptions of mistreatment from perceptions of discrimination and show that the relationship between the two is structured in large part by the ways in which individuals interpret their experiences at the intersection of multiple inequalities.