Although tend-and-befriend is believed to be the dominant stress response in women, little is known regarding the effects of acute psychosocial stress on different dynamic social interactions. To measure these effects, 80 female participants were recruited, paired into the dyads, and instructed to complete cooperative and competitive key-pressing tasks after experiencing acute stress or a control condition. Each dyad of participants should press the key synchronously when the signal was presented in the cooperative task and as fast as possible in the competitive task. During the tasks, brain activities of prefrontal and right temporo-parietal areas were recorded from each dyad using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The results showed that acute psychosocial stress evidently promoted competitive behavior, accompanied by increased interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Despite the lack of a significant difference in the overall cooperation rate, the response time difference between two stressed participants markedly declined over time with more widespread INS in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting that there ensued cooperative improvement among stressed women. These findings behaviorally and neurologically revealed context-dependent response patterns to psychosocial stress in women during dynamic social interactions.

尽管人们认为，“交友”是女性的主要压力反应，但对于急性心理压力对不同动态社会互动的影响知之甚少。为了衡量这些效果，招募了80名女性参与者，将他们配对，并在遇到急性压力或控制条件后指示他们完成合作和竞争性的按键任务。当合作任务中出现信号时，参与者的每个双子组都应同步按下该键，而在竞争任务中则应尽快按下该键。在执行任务期间，使用功能性近红外光谱（fNIRS）从每个二元组记录了额叶前额叶和右侧颞顶叶区域的大脑活动。结果表明，急性心理压力明显促进了竞争行为，伴有右侧背外侧前额叶皮层中人际神经同步（INS）的增加。尽管总体合作率没有显着差异，但两个压力参与者之间的反应时间差异随着时间的推移而明显下降，前额叶皮层中的INS分布更为广泛，这表明在压力较大的女性中随之而来的合作性改善。这些发现从行为和神经方面揭示了在动态的社会互动过程中，妇女对社会心理压力的背景依赖性反应模式。随着时间的推移，额叶前额叶皮层中INS的分布更加广泛，两个压力大的参与者之间的反应时间差显着下降，这表明在压力大的女性中随之而来的合作性改善。这些发现从行为和神经方面揭示了在动态的社会互动过程中，妇女对社会心理压力的背景依赖性反应模式。随着时间的推移，额叶前额叶皮层中INS的分布更加广泛，两个压力大的参与者之间的反应时间差显着下降，这表明在压力大的女性中随之而来的合作性改善。这些发现从行为和神经方面揭示了在动态的社会互动过程中，妇女对社会心理压力的背景依赖性反应模式。