Emotion regulation in elite table tennis

Abstract: There is evidence suggesting that elite athletes cope better with high-intense negative emotions than the non elite athletes. It is unknown, though, whether elites reach such optimal levels because they have better emotion regulation skills (EReg) or a reduced emotional reactivity (EReact). The present study aimed at disentangling EReg and EReact processes using an experimental paradigm in table tennis players. Twenty-nine (14 elite and 15 non elite) table tennis players were tested using the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to study their emotional responses after viewing low and high intense pictures; they were instructed to use different emotional regulation strategies (distraction or reappraisal) in the experimental phase. Regarding to emotional reactivity differences, results have showed that elite athletes’ negativity ratings were lower than those of the control group, where there were not any significant differences between men and women. Moreover the results about emotional regulation effectiveness showed that non-elite athletes and women responded more strongly to negative images than elite athletes and men but contrary to the emotion regulation hypothesis, no interaction between the group and the instruction was found as they were equally able to reduce negativity by employing emotion regulation strategies.