Young Erbil residents describe emotion suppression shaped by digital and cultural pressures

Young people aged 15–28 in Erbil, Iraq, described emotional suppression as a layered experience shaped by personal beliefs, cultural expectations and the perceived safety of expressing feelings online, according to a qualitative study published in BMC Psychology. The study did not measure how common emotional suppression is, so its findings describe the experiences of the interviewed group rather than establishing prevalence in Iraq or elsewhere.

Researchers conducted a qualitative descriptive study in Erbil Governorate between July and September 2025. They used maximum variation purposive sampling to recruit 20 participants, including men and women, younger and older respondents, residents with different educational and family circumstances, and young people with varied levels of digital engagement and self-rated family support. All participants were selected from people who had responded to an earlier anonymous survey and had provided written agreement to be contacted again. Data were collected through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.

The transcripts were analysed using inductive content analysis informed by the work of Graneheim and colleagues and supported by MAXQDA software. The researchers reported the study in line with the COREQ checklist. Their analysis identified three broad categories and nine subcategories. The personal and internal category included internalized stoicism, guilt or fear of becoming an emotional burden, and difficulty recognizing and articulating emotions. The social and cultural category covered norms that equate emotion with weakness, fear of emotional exploitation and interpersonal distrust, and gendered expectations and family pressure. The digital and online category included fear of permanent digital exposure, self-censorship and deletion of emotional content, and pressure to perform happiness online.

These findings suggest that the decision to suppress emotion was not presented as a single reaction to social media or digital communication. Participants linked it to the internal meanings they attached to emotional expression, the expectations of family and wider society, and the risks they associated with leaving emotional traces online. The study is restricted to 20 young people in one Iraqi setting, and its design does not allow the researchers to determine the frequency of these experiences or to assess causal relationships between digital use and emotional suppression. The authors instead emphasize that the themes reflect how participants understood their own experiences in the context of personal, cultural and digital pressures.

The researchers concluded that culturally adapted psychosocial and digital-literacy interventions, developed with young people and delivered in community and educational settings, may be worth exploring and evaluating. The source presents this as a direction for future intervention research, not as evidence that any particular program has already produced clinical benefits. Because the study was qualitative and locally focused, additional work would be needed to test the frequency, mechanisms and broader applicability of the reported patterns, as well as the effectiveness of any proposed responses.

Subject of Research: Qualitative study of emotional suppression among young people in Erbil, Iraq

Article Title: Silenced emotions in the digital age: a qualitative study of emotional suppression among young people aged 15–28 years in Erbil, Iraq

Article References: Rasool, A. A., Kareem, M. S., Zainalddin, H. K., Saber, A. F., Ali, A. N., Hussain, H. A., Mohammed, K. S., Faqe, M. G., Ahmed, K. O., & Majeed, N. K. (2026). Silenced emotions in the digital age: a qualitative study of emotional suppression among young people aged 15–28 years in Erbil, Iraq. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05610-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05610-2

Keywords: emotional suppression, young people, digital communication, Erbil, Iraq, qualitative research, social media, cultural norms, self-censorship, psychosocial research, Silenced, emotions