Characteristics of challenging situations: two policy-capturing studies

Although the appraisal of a situation as challenging has positive effects on performance and stress-related outcomes, the situational and individual characteristics that make challenge appraisal likely are far from clear. The purpose of this paper is to test these characteristics based on a review of the conceptualizations of challenge and the associated positive effects.

Potential characteristics of challenge are tested in two policy-capturing studies using a full factorial experimental design.

Results reveal that situations are appraised as more challenging than threatening when goal importance, task difficulty and controllability are high rather than low.

These results indicate that challenge and threat are distinguished through the means a person believes to have available to cope with demands, an aspect of controllability.

This paper provides a first experimental test of characteristics of challenging situations.