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Peer-reviewedCC BYFrontiers in sociology

Gendered moral economies of sympathy after suicide in Arabic-language Facebook comments

  • Dina Naser Tahat1
  • Khawlah M. AL-Tkhayneh1
  • Emad Mohammad Alghazo2
  • Ismaael AlMazaedh3
  • Khalaf Mohammad Tahat4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Applied Sociology, College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Ain University , ,
  2. 2College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Ain University , ,
  3. 3Department of Arabic Language and Literature, United Arab Emirates University , ,
  4. 4Department of Media and Creative Industries, United Arab Emirates University , ,
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Abstract

Introduction: This study examines sympathy as a socially organized emotion in Arabic-language digital discourse about suicide. Drawing on the sociology of emotions, suicide stigma, and digital death studies, it investigates how public Facebook comment cultures distribute compassion, blame, and moral worth after suicide.

Methods: A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 2,132 publicly visible comments responding to three highly discussed suicide cases. Comments were coded for inferred public gender presentation, emotional orientation, reported case context, and dominant interpretive frame. Pearson chi-square tests were calculated from raw counts; Cramer’s V, 95% Wilson confidence intervals, and sensitivity analyses are reported.

Results: Comments from accounts inferred as female were more often sympathetic than comments from accounts inferred as male (60.0% vs. 40.5%; V = 0.15), and commenter composition differed across the three cases (V = 0.29). Religious framing was the most common interpretive repertoire (48.6%) and could accompany both mercy and condemnation.

Discussion: The study develops the concept of a moral economy of sympathy to describe the social rules through which digital publics allocate compassion after suicide. Because each case combines a particular person, national setting, reported circumstance, and media framing, the findings are case-specific and should not be generalized to Arab publics.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{tahat2026gendered,
  title = {{Gendered moral economies of sympathy after suicide in Arabic-language Facebook comments}},
  author = {Dina Naser Tahat and Khawlah M. AL-Tkhayneh and Emad Mohammad Alghazo and Ismaael AlMazaedh and Khalaf Mohammad Tahat},
  journal = {Frontiers in sociology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fsoc.2026.1958676},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13751534},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Gendered moral economies of sympathy after suicide in Arabic-language Facebook comments
AU  - Dina Naser Tahat
AU  - Khawlah M. AL-Tkhayneh
AU  - Emad Mohammad Alghazo
AU  - Ismaael AlMazaedh
AU  - Khalaf Mohammad Tahat
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/28
JO  - Frontiers in sociology
DO  - 10.3389/fsoc.2026.1958676
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13751534
AB  - Introduction: This study examines sympathy as a socially organized emotion in Arabic-language digital discourse about suicide. Drawing on the sociology of emotions, suicide stigma, and digital death studies, it investigates how public Facebook comment cultures distribute compassion, blame, and moral worth after suicide.  Methods: A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 2,132 publicly visible comments responding to three highly discussed suicide cases. Comments were coded for inferred public gender presentation, emotional orientation, reported case context, and dominant interpretive frame. Pearson chi-square tests were calculated from raw counts; Cramer’s V, 95% Wilson confidence intervals, and sensitivity analyses are reported.  Results: Comments from accounts inferred as female were more often sympathetic than comments from accounts inferred as male (60.0% vs. 40.5%; V = 0.15), and commenter composition differed across the three cases (V = 0.29). Religious framing was the most common interpretive repertoire (48.6%) and could accompany both mercy and condemnation.  Discussion: The study develops the concept of a moral economy of sympathy to describe the social rules through which digital publics allocate compassion after suicide. Because each case combines a particular person, national setting, reported circumstance, and media framing, the findings are case-specific and should not be generalized to Arab publics.
SN  - 2297-7775
ER  -