Sweden has become an increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse country. At the same time, Swedish society is characterised by a reluctance to discuss ethnicity and racialisation. Previous research on ethnic identity has mainly been conducted in the United States, making it important to investigate how ethnic identity functions in a Swedish context and what significance it has.
In his doctoral thesis in psychology, Tommy Reinholdsson has investigated ethnic identity among young people in Sweden and its associations with well-being and psychosocial development. Ethnic identity refers to how young people understand, value and relate to their ethnic, cultural, racialised and national belonging.
“Ethnic identity is not just about where you come from. For many young people, it is about understanding who they are in relation to their family, friends, school and society’s ideas about Swedishness and belonging,” says Tommy Reinholdsson.
Ethnic identity is relevant to young people from different backgrounds
Previous research has primarily focused on young people from minority backgrounds. The thesis shows that ethnic identity is a meaningful and psychosocially relevant part of young people’s development in Sweden as well, where issues relating to ethnicity, racialisation and Swedishness are often difficult to discuss openly. This applies both to majority youth – those who identify solely as Swedish – and to young people from minority backgrounds.
One important conclusion is that ethnic identity should not be understood as a single, general characteristic. Instead, different aspects of identity have different significance. Feeling a sense of belonging and pride, having a clear understanding of what one’s own background means, and feeling that one’s group is respected by others emerged as particularly important aspects.
A sense of belonging is associated with greater well-being
Having a clear understanding of one’s ethnic identity and feeling a sense of belonging to one’s ethnic group are positively associated with well-being. This was the case both for young people from the majority population and for those from minority backgrounds.
“When young people leave the more structured environment of upper secondary school and move on to work or further study, questions about who they are and where they belong can take on new significance. The study shows that having a clearer understanding of one’s own ethnic identity during this transitional period is associated with young people’s well-being,” says Tommy Reinholdsson.
Social contexts affect how ethnic identity is expressed
The thesis also shows that ethnic identity can have more complex associations with well-being and trust. For example, among young people from minority backgrounds, having an ethnic identity that was highly central to their sense of self was not associated exclusively with positive outcomes. This can be understood in relation to a social context in which ethnicity, background and Swedishness may be highlighted, questioned or rendered invisible.
Many participants from minority backgrounds who see themselves as Swedish had experienced others questioning their Swedishness. They had a clear sense of their Swedish identity, but discriminatory comments, primarily based on their appearance, caused doubts and conflicts.
Young people with both Swedish and other ethnic backgrounds who were interviewed described how they could feel that their identity was taken for granted in one context but questioned in another. They therefore need to adapt how they express their ethnic identity depending on the setting – at home, at school, among friends, at work and in public spaces.
Schools can provide space for conversations about ethnic identity
“This is not a marginal issue. A large proportion of young people in Sweden have experiences that make questions of Swedishness, background and belonging relevant to them. Ethnic identity is also a factor that plays a role in people’s trust in others and in societal institutions. Schools and other organisations that work with young people therefore need to be able to discuss these issues in an open and nuanced way,” says Tommy Reinholdsson.
By Katarina Englund and Tommy Reinholdsson
