Spouse support and stress: gender differences in neural measures of performance monitoring under observation of a spouse

Abstract

Spousal support can mitigate stress's impact on daily functioning and neural responses to stressors. However, the effectiveness of spousal support in reducing stress may be moderated by gender. The present study investigated the impact of observer presence in 66 heterosexual married couples, specifically a spouse or a confederate, on two neural indices of performance monitoring: early error detection [error-related negativity (ERN)] and later error awareness [error positivity (Pe)]. Contrary to predictions, ERN was consistently smaller in observed conditions, suggesting that being observed, irrespective of the observer's identity, diminished attention to errors. Notably, only women exhibited an enhanced ERN in the presence of their spouse, suggesting gender-specific differences in neural responses to spousal support during performance monitoring. Pe was larger when completing the task in the presence of a spouse and men displayed larger Pe than women. The present findings underscore the complex role of social context in performance monitoring, challenging existing assumptions about the uniformity of neural indices of performance monitoring during observation. Findings emphasize the need to dissect the nuanced interplay between observer presence, gender differences, and performance monitoring and offer valuable insights into the social modulation of error processing, particularly in a stressful observation context.

Keywords: error positivity (Pe); error-related negativity (ERN); event-related potentials (ERPs); gender differences; performance monitoring; spousal support.

Figure 1.

Grand average waveforms for the ERN separately for men (top row) and women (bottom row). Waveforms are shown for fronto-central activity across four sites for ERN on the top row, and activity corresponding to ERN is shown in gray. Topographical maps showing the frontocentral scalp distribution of ERN for each group are shown in the top-right corner of each plot, and the maps represent the average ERN difference activity (error minus correct) from 0 to 100 ms for waveforms during the alone condition.

Figure 2.

Grand average waveforms for the Pe separately for men (top row) and women (bottom row). Waveforms are shown for centro-parietal activity across six sites for Pe, and activity corresponding to Pe is shown in gray. Topographical maps showing the frontocentral scalp distribution of Pe for each group are shown in the top-right corner of each plot, and the maps represent the average Pe difference activity (error minus correct) from 200 to 400 ms for waveforms during the alone condition.

Figure 3.

Point estimates for posterior samples with their 95% credible intervals. Estimates of average error-related negativity (ERN; top left column) and error positivity (Pe; top right column) are shown on the top, and estimates of the ERN standard deviations (bottom left) and Pe standard deviations (bottom right) on the log scale are shown on the bottom.