Why Do Arabs Repress Emotions? The Psychology of Cultural Emotional Suppression

Sarah El Nabulsi explores why emotional repression is so deeply embedded in Arab culture — rooted in upbringing, family values that equate emotions with weakness, and generations of coping through conflict. She draws a striking contrast with the West, where emotional expression is modelled everywhere in media and film. She then offers a neurological explanation: repressing emotions literally reduces right-brain activity — the hemisphere responsible for emotional intelligence, body awareness, and relationships — while the left brain becomes dominant. Like an unused muscle, the right brain weakens over time. She urges Arabs to normalise therapy. On men who repress: she takes a deliberate stance — men should process emotions with other men, not at home, where their role as provider and anchor must stay intact.