“I’m generally just a White European mutt”: Communication strategies for interpreting and sharing DNA-based ancestry test results

Abstract

ABSTRACT Direct-to-consumer (DTC) DNA tests that trace ancestral heritage are a popular way for U.S. Americans to discover information about their ethnic history. To address this phenomenon, we analyze interviews with 32 test-takers, examining the role of DTC DNA testing in the ongoing communicative construction and negotiation of ethnic identity. Our thematic analysis revealed four communicative strategies enacted by participants as they made sense of their results: (dis)trusting science, quantifying ethnic ancestry, using jokes and humor, and evoking Americanism. We demonstrate how participants’ strategic communication functions to (re)inscribe societal discourses related to ethnicity, race, and racism, including discourses around homogeneity, Americanism, whiteness, and the geneticization of ethnicity.