الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Individuals with social anxiety disorder of both genders develop extreme emotional reactions. Thus, they resort to online blogging to find solace and practice emotional disclosure. This study aims to explore gender-based differences between social anxiety male and female patients as they manifest in their blog narratives, particularly in terms of issues of emotional expressivity. The data comprises 20 personal blog narratives of men and women with social anxiety, ten for each gender. All narratives are written in English but while the length of the male patients’ narratives falls within a range of 524–2164 wordcount, that of the female patients’ narratives falls within 387–1226. The study adopts a mixed methodology to the analysis of the narratives employing Labov’s (1972/2006) narrative analysis model and Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory. Then, the findings are interpreted for gender-based differences in emotional expressivity in the light of Tannen’s (1990) difference theory. The results indicate that patients of both genders structured their experience with the disorder similarly to include a struggle phase and a recovery phase. However, the male patients in structuring the recovery phase employed more resolutions and evaluations than the female patients did. The researcher also noted that males established codas in form of advice, pledge of help for others, or evidence of their perseverance throughout the course of recovery mainly to highlight their potentials and skills unlike females who dedicated their codas to stressing emotional connection with the readers. Moreover, the patients of both genders utilized the appraisal resources differently to mirror the phases. In the struggle phase, the female patients deployed more negative affect than the male patients did and conjoined it with negative appreciation as opposed to negative judgement in the male patients’ narratives. Concerning the recovery phase, males employed far more positive judgement than females did. The study concludes that the female patients’ experiences are more emotional and detailed whereas the male patients’ experiences are more informative and factual. This study suggests potential to bridge between the linguistic expression of social anxiety patients of both genders and their illness.