As a country of high migration, Sweden presents an interesting case for the study of belongingness. For the children of migrants, ethnic and national identification, as well as ascriptive identity, can pose challenges to feelings of belongingness, which is an essential element for positive mental health. In this article, survey data were collected from 626 Swedes whose parents were born in the following countries: Somalia, Poland, Vietnam, and Turkey. The results show that Poles significantly felt they received more reflective appraisals of ascription than any other group. However, despite not feeling as if they were being ascribed as Swedish, most group members (regardless of ethnic origin) had high feelings of belongingness to Sweden. Overall, individuals who felt that being Swedish was important for their identity indicated the highest feelings of belongingness. Further, individuals across groups showed a positive correlation between their national identification and ethnic identification, indicating a feeling of membership to both. These results mirror previous research in Sweden where individuals' ethnic and national identities were positively correlated. The ability to inhabit multiple identities as a member of different groups is the choice of an individual within a pluralistic society. Multiple memberships between groups need not be contradictory but rather an expression of different spheres of inhabitance.

This article aims to explore the interrelation between post racialism, colorblind ideology, and the perception of Swedishness. Through 40 interviews and surveys conducted in Malmo, Sweden, participants were asked to reflect on race, ethnicity, and Swedishness. Multiple meanings were present in the participants' responses, half of whom were white and half non-white. For white participants, boundaries around the in-group construction of 'Swedishness' were based in whiteness, yet these participants held overwhelmingly negative attitudes towards the use of words race or racialization. On the other hand, non-white participants viewed race and racialization with less negative connotations, yet they also endorsed the need to be white in order to be perceived as being Swedish. The results support the notion that abandonment of the word race does not always equate to an abandonment of whiteness. This article builds upon and expands previous findings in the U.S. context while contributing to an emerging body of literature on race and racialization in Sweden. Additionally, it seeks to challenge dominant narratives and assumptions of 'Swedishness' and its connection to whiteness.

This study investigated the understanding of the superordinate identity of 'Swedishness' among ethnic majority in-group members and minority out-group members in Sweden. Utilizing the Ingroup Projection Model (IPM) and theories related to mental representations, it was hypothesized and confirmed that both in-group and out-group members associate 'Swedishness' predominantly with white individuals, encompassing both broad and specific mental representations. Furthermore, all group members were also observed to hold an ethnically characterized specific mental representation of 'Swedishness,' reaffirming the saliency of white individuals as prototypical exemplars, suggesting an ethnic understanding of this superordinate identity. Yet interestingly, the broad mental representations relating to both groups picture of Sweden as a nation, reflected an increasingly diverse and multicultural outlook highlighting the evolving nature of this identity construct. These findings contribute to the understanding of the Ingroup Projection Model, particularly in contexts where the superordinate identity can connotate either a national or ethnic identity. The implications of these findings are significant for addressing issues related to intergroup dynamics, identity, and multiculturalism in contemporary societies.