Measuring workplace gender microaggressions in Spain: validation and measurement invariance of the Spanish version of the MIMI-16 – Psychiatry AI: Real-Time AI Scoping Review

AI Summary

Spanish MIMI-16 shows correlated two-factor structure with strong factor loadings and high internal reliability, supporting its structural validity.
Measurement invariance established at configural, metric and scalar levels across two independent samples, enabling valid group comparisons.
MIMI-16 correlates with poorer workplace relations, greater distress and burnout, lower engagement and satisfaction, and higher turnover intention; dimensions show substantial shared variance.

AI Summary

Although related constructs such as micromachismos and sexism have been examined in Spanish-speaking contexts, no validated Spanish-language instrument has operationalized these experiences in line with the microinsults-microinvalidations taxonomy. Confirmatory factor analyses using a robust weighted least squares estimator (WLSMV), multigroup analyses for measurement invariance, and correlational analyses for criterion-related validity were conducted. DISCUSSION: Overall, these findings support the reliability and structural validity of the Spanish MIMI-16 and its use for assessing subtle forms of gender-based violence in organizational contexts, while highlighting the need for further research on the distinctiveness of its dimensions.

Basic summary

Front Psychol. 2026 May 8;17:1821085. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1821085. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Workplace gender microaggressions constitute subtle forms of symbolic violence that are often difficult to recognize, particularly in their manifestations as microinsults and microinvalidations. Although related constructs such as micromachismos and sexism have been examined in Spanish-speaking contexts, no validated Spanish-language instrument has operationalized these experiences in line with the microinsults-microinvalidations taxonomy. This study examines the psychometric properties of the Spanish adaptation of the Microinvalidations and Microinsults Scale (MIMI-16) in working women.

METHODS: Two independent samples of working women in Spain (N ₁ = 352; N ₂ = 404) were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analyses using a robust weighted least squares estimator (WLSMV), multigroup analyses for measurement invariance, and correlational analyses for criterion-related validity were conducted.

RESULTS: Supported the expected correlated two-factor structure, with moderate to high standardized loadings (λ = 0.60-0.92) and high reliability (ω = 0.88-0.89; composite reliability = 0.93-0.95). Measurement invariance was supported at the configural, metric, and scalar levels. Criterion-related validity was evidenced by associations with poorer workplace social relations, higher psychological distress and burnout, lower work engagement and job satisfaction, and greater turnover intention. However, the high inter-factor correlation and partial limitations in discriminant validity suggest substantial shared variance between dimensions.

DISCUSSION: Overall, these findings support the reliability and structural validity of the Spanish MIMI-16 and its use for assessing subtle forms of gender-based violence in organizational contexts, while highlighting the need for further research on the distinctiveness of its dimensions.

PMID:42183522 | PMC:PMC13194036 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1821085

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