Measuring emotional management abilities: Further evidence of the importance to distinguish between typical and maximum performance

Freudenthaler and Neubauer (2005) have recently developed and validated performance measures of emotional management abilities (EMA), requiring subjects to indicate their typical behaviour in emotional situations (typical-performance instruction, TP) instead of assessing the effectiveness of different behavioural alternatives or indicating the most adequate response (maximum-performance instruction, MP). In the present study (n = 176), we examined the effects of these two instruction forms (TP vs. MP) on the EMA-scores in a between-subject design. In addition, the relations of typical and maximum EMA to cognitive intelligence components and personality traits were tested. Instruction-related comparisons of the EMA-scores yielded not only lower means but also higher standard deviations and higher reliabilities in the TP-condition. As expected, maximum EMA were significantly correlated with cognitive intelligence components but not with personality traits. In contrast, the typical EMA were moderately associated with personality traits but not related to cognitive abilities, providing further evidence of the importance to distinguish between typical and maximum performance.