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

## TL;DR

This study explores how the presence of a spouse affects stress and brain responses to errors, finding gender differences in how people monitor performance.

## Contribution

The study reveals gender-specific neural responses to spousal observation during performance monitoring.

## Key findings

- Being observed reduced early error detection (ERN) regardless of the observer's identity.
- Women showed enhanced ERN in the presence of their spouse, indicating gender-specific neural responses.
- Men displayed larger Pe (error awareness) when completing tasks with their spouse present.

## 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.