Athletic retirement: A cross-national comparison of elite French and Swedish athletes

Author: Stambulova, N.; Stephan, Y.; Jäphag, U.

Description: A common pattern and two nationally specific patterns in the process of the transition to the post-career have been identified. The common pattern involved athletic retirement pre-conditions (e.g., retirement planning), coping and related factors. Cross-cultural differences related to reasons for termination, emotional reactions upon retirement (more positive in Swedish sample), perceived difficulty to start a new professional career, usage of emotion-focused/avoidance coping strategies (both higher in French sample), duration of the transition, current athletic identity, and professional choice/career/life satisfaction nowadays (all higher in Swedish sample). Retirement planning, regardless of the nation, was associated with more favourable emotions and coping behaviours in the transition but was not associated with perceived quality and long-term consequences of the transition. The study showed that the transition out of elite sports is a dynamic, multidimensional, multilevel, and multifactor process in which nationality/culture plays an important role.

Subject headings: Athletic retirement; Coping; Cross-national comparison; Elite athletes; Retirement planning

Publication year: 2007

Journal or book title: Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Pages: 101-118

Find the full text : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029206000550

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=9071571121387189150&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Type: Journal Article

Serial number: 629