Larimer County Genealogical Society

Nearly Two Thirds of Family Historians Are Distressed by What They Find – Should DNA Kits Come With Warnings?

I found an interesting article by Cheryl Winn-Boujnida, published in TheConversation web site:

In 2019, Doreen Rosenthal and I surveyed 775 Australian hobbyist family historians to examine their motivations.

They were adults aged between 21 and 93, but most were older and the median age was 63. The majority (85%) were women. This seems to be typical of hobbyist family historians. Women often take on the role of “kin keeper” – and have the time to devote to it when they’ve finished rearing children and have retired from paid work

Most family historians are older women. 

Survey respondents described why they were passionately engaged with their hobby – and how it made them feel. Some 48% “sometimes” felt strong negative emotions about what they found, while 15% did “often”.

There were five common distress triggers.

You can read the full article at: https://tinyurl.com/4h6s9m83.