Keep your cool and win the game: Emotion regulation and performance in table tennis.

OBJECTIVE: People often feel anxious prior to performance situations, and this can lead to performance decrements. Thus, applying effective emotion regulation strategies could be crucial for achieving maximum performance.

METHOD: We investigated the relation between dispositional precompetition emotion regulation and competition performance. Participants were 310 table tennis players (240 men, Mage  = 39.07, SD = 15.99). Self-reported emotion regulation behavior was matched with objective performance data.

RESULTS: We found that positive cognitive change strategies were positively related and negative cognitive change strategies were negatively related to winning in competitions. Furthermore, athletes with a higher performance status more often used situation modification, positive cognitive change, and response modulation strategies.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings contribute to personality research by providing evidence for the (non)effectiveness of certain emotion regulation strategies.