BibTeX

@article{kristiansen-etal-2025-do-358278,
	title        = {‘Do You Want to Know Who You Are?’ The Rise of Genetic Ancestry Testing and the Search for Genealogies A Case Study from Sweden},
	abstract     = {As the practice and business of personal DNA ancestry testing continue to expand glob-
ally, understanding people’s interest in their genetic history, and how the results influence
attitudes about the past, is being called for. Such insight is especially relevant to archae-
ologists and heritage researchers. Yet the motivations for taking direct-to-consumer DNA
tests and their effects remain poorly understood in a European context. This paper presents
the results of a nationwide survey carried out by The Centre for Critical Heritage Studies,
University of Gothenburg, in collaboration with the Swedish Society for Genetic Geneal-
ogy. The aim was to identify social and cultural attitudes among people who decided to
take a personal DNA test in Sweden. Nearly 900 individuals answered the survey. Based
on the results, we identify a distinction between family genealogies and personal genetic
history versus national history and collective identity. While the majority of respondents
are interested in history and archaeology, their interest in family genealogies is specifically
linked to individual stories and possible links to existing/unknown family members. This
suggests that DNA-testing provides a new and different take on family histories compared
to historically-documented genealogies. It also suggests that the link to polarizing debates
on ethnonational belonging, highlighted in relation to public responses to ancient DNA
studies in archaeology, remains muted as regards personal DNA tests.},
	journal      = {Current Swedish Archaeology},
	author       = {Kristiansen, Kristian and Wåhlstrand Skärström, Victor and Brodén, Daniel and Michael, Rowlands and Schroeder, Hannes},
	year         = {2025},
	volume       = {33},
	number       = {1},
}