The effect of self-efficacy and issue characteristics on threat and opportunity categorization

The purpose of the current study was to examine self-efficacy and issue characteristics as antecedents of issue categorization. A laboratory experiment using 277 participants manipulated self-efficacy, scenario category (threat/opportunity), and scenario strength (weak/strong), and subsequently measured perceptions of threat and opportunity. Results indicate that high self-efficacy participants categorized scenarios as more representative of opportunity and that self-efficacy influenced the framing of opportunity scenarios, but not threat scenarios. Parallel results were found across both categorical and dimensional threat and opportunity measures.