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Exploring the dynamic processes of identity change in athletic retirement

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Retirement is one of the most impactful career transitions athletes face. Researchers recognise the role that athletic identity plays in this, but analysis of identity content and change processes is limited. Catherine Haslam discusses the experience of identity change in competitive and successful elite athletes who had retired from sport.

Image courtesy of interviewee. September 23, 2024

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The speaker discusses their research on identity and life changes, specifically focusing on the retirement of athletes. Initially interested in workforce retirement, a collaboration sparked an interest in sport retirement, leading to the development of a social identity model of identity change (CMIC). This video model emphasizes the importance of social group connectedness during life transitions, highlighting that strong connections provide emotional and social support, facilitating better adjustments to change.

The research indicates that athletes who were well-connected pre-retirement and engaged with multiple social groups tend to navigate their transitions more successfully. Key factors identified in the adjustment process include planning for life after sports, achieving personal sporting goals, and developing a robust athletic identity.

The findings emphasize the nuanced nature of identity; while personal identity is significant, group identity, such as belonging to a team or community, also plays a crucial role. The research advocates for addressing identity management proactively through programs aimed at helping athletes recognize and cultivate their broader identities beyond sports, noting that many athletes define themselves primarily through their sport, which can hinder their transition post-retirement.

The developed program, named "More Than Sport," aims to assist athletes in managing their identity through transitional phases. The speaker calls for a collaborative effort among athletes, coaches, and organizations to support athletes in these changes and to address the mental health challenges that often accompany retirement from sport. With up to 40% of elite athletes facing difficulties during this transition, a holistic approach to identity and mental well-being is deemed necessary to mitigate struggles such as depression and maladaptive coping mechanisms.

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Here are five key points from the video discussing the work on identity change and its implications for athletes transitioning out of sports:

1. **Importance of Social Identity in Life Transitions**: The research emphasizes the significance of social group connectedness, positing that having strong ties to multiple social groups (family, friends, professional networks) is critical for a person's ability to adjust to life changes, such as retirement from sports. The model highlights social processes as essential factors influencing adjustment during these transitions.

2. **Athletic Identity and Its Challenges**: The study focuses on athletic identity and how a strong sense of identity as an athlete can complicate the transition to life after sports. Athletes who identify solely as athletes may struggle significantly upon retirement since they have not developed other aspects of their identity, leading to difficulties in coping with their transition.

3. **Balanced Identity Management**: Athletes who successfully manage both their personal and group-based identity tend to navigate retirement better. The ability to balance these identities allows athletes to apply skills and strengths gained from their sports careers in other areas, facilitating a smoother transition.

4. **Development of the "More than Sport" Program**: The researchers developed an intervention program called "More than Sport," aimed at assisting athletes in managing their identity change during the transition out of competitive sports. The program is self-directed and provides education and tools for athletes to navigate identity dynamics and the challenges associated with retirement.

5. **Mental Health Concerns**: The video addresses mental health challenges faced by athletes during retirement, highlighting that up to 40% struggle with issues such as depression and anxiety. This underscores the need for holistic interventions to support mental well-being during transitions, recognizing the unique pressures athletes face compared to the general workforce.

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Here are some key quotes and insights from the video regarding identity change and the retirement of athletes:

1. **On Identity and Life Change:**
- "We've really enjoyed working together... it's like one interest sparks another."

2. **On Social Connectedness:**
- "Being really well connected... is about social group connectedness, not just any social factor."
- "Being well connected before a life change increases the likelihood that you can actually hang on to some of those groups in the convideo of change."

3. **On the Importance of Group Networks:**
- "Those social group ties actually give you access to a range of different resources... you need those resources when you're undergoing change."
- "Those resources are pretty critical at those time points."

4. **On Factors Affecting Athletic Retirement:**
- "Planning, achieving sporting goals, and addressing injury are key factors that influence the transition from elite sport."
- "Athletic identity is being pretty critical as part of this process too."

5. **On Managing Identity Change:**
- "We wanted to bring it to the fore... to show that identity is a critical element."
- "You don't forget identity. You remember that this is something that you've actually built up."

6. **On Transitioning from Sport:**
- "The athletes who transitioned better were those who could strategically manage and balance both aspects of identity."
- "Those athletes who were already well connected when they were competing... were thinking about their careers moving forward."

7. **On Emotional Challenges Post-Retirement:**
- "Up to about 40% of elite athletes actually struggle in this particular life change... associated with some mental health challenges."
- "If we want to intervene and prevent some of this from happening, we need to take a bit more of a holistic approach."

8. **On the Purpose of the Program 'More Than Sport':**
- "It's about raising athletes' awareness of what identity is, why it undergoes change, and how best to engage in some of this identity management."
- "We have a responsibility to try and prevent some of those challenges occurring."

This selection highlights the essential components of identity management, particularly in the convideo of transitioning out of elite sports, as well as the importance of support systems and planning in adjustment processes.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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Doing some work on identity change,

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and life change in general for quite some time.

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And we were actually working in the retirement space in

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that, at that period of time, so just workforce, retirement.

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And one of my collaborators who was, working in China,

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had indicated that he had, a lot of contact,

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and was interested in working in sport retirement.

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And so he sparked that interest in me.

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And when I started talking about this a little bit more

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widely with some of my other colleagues,

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I've got some colleagues in Europe, I've got some colleagues

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in, Scotland who are also interested in this area.

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It just brought the collaboration together.

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And so it was not because I come from a sporting background,

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but because I come from a background of research

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where I'm interested in understanding

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how best can we respond to various forms of life change.

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And I initially started that

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through having a clinical background.

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So I'm a clinical psychologist

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and I've been very much interested in

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how people recover from trauma and illness.

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Um, and so these different life changes also sort of,

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you know, came to the fore

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after I started working in the area of aging.

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So in a sense, it's like one interest sparks another.

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Um, and it created a, a, a lovely synergy for us.

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So we've, we've, we've really enjoyed working together.

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It started off with one study,

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and I think some of the research that we're actually going

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to be talking about is, is, something

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that's actually developed from that social identity model

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of identity change or cmic, as we refer to it,

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is really just what it does is it models the social factors

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that we found to be critical in how well

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or not a person adjusts to life change.

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Um, and the model itself wasn't

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developed in the sporting context.

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It was actually developed in, trauma

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and recovery, context.

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I was working with, stroke recovery at

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that time in neuro rehabilitation.

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And we found that, a number

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of different social processes were really important in

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how well people adjusted.

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And there were three key processes to this.

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First, it was about being really well connected, to, in,

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in fact, the model is about social group connectedness,

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not just any social factor.

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It's about group belonging

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and feeling a part of group networks,

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whether they be your family of friendship networks,

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professional work networks, community or interest networks.

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So being well connected, being multiple have, having,

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belonging to multiple different social groups was

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actually an important foundation.

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And we found that this has actually been an important

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foundation because it allows for two things.

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Um, being well connected

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before a life change increases the likelihood

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that you can actually hang on to some

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of those groups in the context of change, just

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to provide you with a sense of continuity

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in the face of change.

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Um, and also what, belonging

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to multiple groups does is it gives you the experience,

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the knowledge, the background,

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and even the people, who can connect you

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with new groups, in the context of undergoing change

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in the context of, you know, losing some

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of those groups along the way.

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So it's these three group factors that are really important.

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And a final element of the model is group compatibility.

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It's all well and good to be well connected,

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but it's a lot easier to juggle a lot

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of those group networks

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or group relationships that you have if those are ones

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that get on with one another and aren't antagonistic or,

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or at odds with one another being connected.

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So the, the reason why these social group ties are really

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important is because those social group ties actually give

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you access to a range of different resources.

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Um, and you need those resources when

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you're undergoing change.

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'cause change brings a, with it a lot of uncertainty.

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And the sorts of resources I'm talking about are things like

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social and emotional support,

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being there when you're actually un un undergoing some kind

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of, you know, change that you're not certain

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what the outcome's actually gonna be, even if it's a change

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for the good, like going for a promotion or, or, or,

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or, as you said, appearing at the Olympics

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and performing at the Olympics.

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Um, the other things

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that our social groups actually give us is access to.

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They help us to feel more in control of our lives.

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Um, they help us to feel a sense of belonging.

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Um, so it's these sorts of resources

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that we get from those groups in periods of change.

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Those resources are pretty critical at those,

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at, at those time points.

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And that's why those group networks

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and being connected is important.

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You don't have those connections.

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Then who is it that you're actually going to turn to

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for support, when you're struggling to cope with,

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what that life change is bringing to you?

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This is an area sport.

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Retirement, athletic retirement is actually something

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that's been going on for some time.

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So there's quite a lot of literature out there,

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and there's a number of factors

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that have actually been identified in

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that literature is being pretty key to

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how well people adjust to, leaving,

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elite sport in particular.

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So things like planning, things like being, and, and,

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and within that planning, it's planning about what you,

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what you're going to be doing next, but also thinking about

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your financial security.

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Um, other factors that seem

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to be important in the transition is having achieved your

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sporting goals,

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and factors that undermine

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that is not having achieved those goals, feeling

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that there's unfinished business,

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but also, experiencing injury.

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Um, so not being able to fulfill the dream

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and the vision that you actually had for yourself.

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So these are the things that have actually been identified

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within this too.

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Um, they've identified, identity, athletic identity is

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being pretty critical as part of this process too.

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But the thing that kind of differentiates our work is

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that we are really homing in on the identity angle.

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Um, for most other researchers, athletic identity change

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and loss just seems to be part of the mix.

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It's a, it's part of the suite of factors

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or contributors, to, to adjustment.

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Um, from our point of view,

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it's much more key than has actually been highlighted

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in some of that literature.

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We don't see it as just another factor.

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We just see it as some, we see it

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as something that's pretty core.

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And that makes sense when you think about

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as you're building up your professional,

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athletic identity.

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When you, when you're performing in sport, your coaches,

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your teams, everybody is building this up

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because we actually know

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that a strong positive athletic identity is

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associated with better performance.

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So over the years, an athlete has this identity built up,

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positively built up to the, for some athletes

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to the extent that it's their soul identity.

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Um, and when they leave their sport,

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this is something that's ignored.

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It's almost like it's something that's dropped.

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So it's something that's built up so strongly

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to actually build on performance and, and promote

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and support performance.

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But then after, you know, when,

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when the athlete's career is over, it's like, okay,

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identity is just not even discussed anymore.

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So we just wanted to bring it to the fore.

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We wanted to bring it far forward so that people see this

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as a critical element.

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But also one of the things

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that we've actually done in the context

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of this is we've developed a program,

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we've called it more than sport,

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that really targets identity management.

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So our argument is, is that you don't forget identity.

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You remember that this is something

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that you've actually built up

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and what you actually have a responsibility for.

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And what we think is a duty of care for, for athletes is

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to actually support them to manage that identity change

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that they're actually going to go through in the course of

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that, in the course of that transition.

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And the name of the program actually comes from what,

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from our interview,

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and some of the work that we're actually talking about, it's

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what athletes actually said.

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You know, those, those athletes

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who actually transitioned really well from, from sport,

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they're the ones who said, well,

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there's much more to me than my sport.

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A lot of people ask me about, you know, my athletic days,

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but I also want them to ask me about other things.

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I'm far more than this.

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I'm more than what I was in that, in that period.

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That doesn't mean that that wasn't important.

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It was highly important.

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It was critical to people, but then more than that,

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and so that's why we called the program more than sport

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based on the, based on the feedback

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that we actually got about identity

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experiences from athletes.

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We did a qualitative interview on this, pre prior

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to this particular study,

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we'd been looking at identity change,

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did a survey based study, with Chinese athletes,

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but also with, but also with, western athletes.

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And part of the reason for actually looking at Western

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and Chinese athletes was

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because we were actually interested

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to see whether the same sorts of processes played out.

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Because sometimes what you do see,

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in collectivist cultures like, in, in,

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in non-Western cultures, that some

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of these group processes don't play out as strongly.

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Um, but what we actually found was

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that those group processes that I identified in the,

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in cmic, the social identity model

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of identity change played out just equally,

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Um, strongly in both Western

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and, non-Western athletes.

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But the problem with the survey-based study is

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that we are imposing our views

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and our perspectives in our questions.

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What we wanted to do is we wanted to delve deeper in terms

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of trying to get an athlete's, our, get an understanding

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of what athletes experience of that identity change

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and loss was, and the study itself.

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See, one of the thing, one of the things that we wanted

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to go further on in previous research as well, is

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that when people think of identity, they often think,

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and athletic identity in particular,

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they often think about personal and individual identity.

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It's me playing out there,

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it's me who's actually performing.

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It all comes down to me.

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But in fact, for a lot of, a lot of, a lot of us, and a

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and a lot of athletes in particular,

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it isn't just about their personal identity.

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They train with teams, even if they compete individually.

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Um, they, they have a team of people behind them

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that includes their groups and their coaches.

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We conducted the qualit used qualitative methodology

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and used a snowballing method in

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that qualitative methodology.

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Um, you'll notice with our, with our, with

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that particular paper, we have multiple authors.

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Um, and so we drew on our, on our collaborators

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who have a lot of networks in with, different,

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sporting groups.

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And we started with, a small set of individual athletes,

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and those athletes actually identified

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or introduced the study to a number of their colleagues

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and friends and peers.

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Um, and that's how we built that up.

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So we drew on athletes who had, just retired.

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They were between one and six years of retirement.

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Um, so some, some early, some a little bit later.

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Um, and they competed in a range of different sports.

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So these were, elite athletes, athletes

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who were performing at Olympic levels

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or world championship levels,

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or were performing, professionally

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or earning a living from their sport.

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And so this included footballers.

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Um, this included, skiers, rowers,

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trampolines.

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We had a range of different, athletes

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who, responded.

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And so the qualitative,

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project here included about 21 elite athletes.

11:06.945 --> 11:08.325
And that they, they formed our

11:08.325 --> 11:09.565
data set part of the interview.

11:09.575 --> 11:11.045
There were several things that are kind

11:11.045 --> 11:12.205
of highlighted for us.

11:12.665 --> 11:14.125
Um, different aspects

11:14.125 --> 11:16.165
of identity were actually really important.

11:16.305 --> 11:20.365
So I mentioned earlier on, the tendency for us

11:20.365 --> 11:21.725
to focus on personal identity,

11:21.725 --> 11:24.525
think about what's unique about me and what I contribute.

11:24.545 --> 11:27.725
And that's particularly strong in, the athletic world

11:27.725 --> 11:30.085
because of, you know, trying to be world champion.

11:30.545 --> 11:31.645
And that's certainly something

11:31.645 --> 11:32.885
that came out in our interviews.

11:33.305 --> 11:35.685
But the other thing that actually came out in our interviews

11:35.705 --> 11:37.005
was that group-based identity.

11:37.225 --> 11:41.005
Um, seeing yourself as a member of a team,

11:41.445 --> 11:43.845
identifying with other athletes who compete

11:43.845 --> 11:46.845
with your particular compete in your particular sport,

11:46.945 --> 11:48.525
family identity, those sorts

11:48.525 --> 11:49.925
of things were actually also important.

11:50.345 --> 11:52.965
And the interesting thing that emerged from the the study

11:53.145 --> 11:57.525
was that the athletes who could strategically manage

11:57.525 --> 11:59.885
and balance both those aspects of identity,

11:59.885 --> 12:02.765
both those aspects of self, they, they were the ones

12:02.785 --> 12:06.165
who transitioned better, had a better transition experience.

12:06.505 --> 12:09.925
So being able to recognize both aspects of identity

12:10.025 --> 12:13.205
and work with those balance those well bring one

12:13.205 --> 12:15.645
to the fore when it really needed to be brought,

12:15.665 --> 12:16.685
to be made salient,

12:17.135 --> 12:18.925
bring the other a little bit further back,

12:19.025 --> 12:20.205
be able to work with them.

12:20.515 --> 12:21.685
That was certainly best.

12:22.825 --> 12:24.205
The other aspect of identity,

12:24.225 --> 12:26.565
or the other identity story that kind of came out

12:26.565 --> 12:31.005
of this was this whole notion of, solely identifying

12:31.025 --> 12:33.485
or exclusively identifying as an athlete.

12:34.215 --> 12:37.325
There are a number of our, of our, of our,

12:37.325 --> 12:40.725
athlete participants who did identify in that way.

12:41.235 --> 12:43.485
They found it really, really difficult

12:43.865 --> 12:46.005
to move on from their sport,

12:46.155 --> 12:49.645
because they had not, they've not,

12:49.875 --> 12:51.845
developed their identity in other ways.

12:51.845 --> 12:53.805
They didn't develop other forms of connection.

12:53.935 --> 12:55.685
Being an athlete was everything to them.

12:55.745 --> 12:58.805
And when that was taken away, it was really hard to move on.

12:59.155 --> 13:01.685
What they kept on looking for was the same highs

13:01.715 --> 13:03.765
that they actually had when they were competing in sport.

13:03.875 --> 13:05.085
They were looking for something

13:05.085 --> 13:08.965
that was actually giving them the same, the same,

13:09.025 --> 13:11.965
the same sort of feeling that they had the same highs

13:12.195 --> 13:14.485
that they experienced when competing in sport.

13:15.145 --> 13:19.845
Um, and one final thing kind of came out of the res,

13:19.845 --> 13:21.725
about, came out of the findings as well.

13:22.145 --> 13:26.045
And that was what athletes did with their athletic identity.

13:26.985 --> 13:30.805
The athletes who transitioned best were those who were able

13:30.825 --> 13:34.885
to kind of re more their identity, recognized that,

13:34.995 --> 13:36.085
they were an athlete

13:36.105 --> 13:38.125
and they were at their, you know, they were at the height

13:38.125 --> 13:40.045
of their, their sport and career,

13:40.665 --> 13:44.005
but were able to use the skills and abilities

13:44.585 --> 13:47.045
and strengths that they acquired as an athlete

13:47.425 --> 13:49.125
to apply them in other areas.

13:49.785 --> 13:53.525
Um, in most cases, that was either as a mentor,

13:54.125 --> 13:57.845
coaching others, coaching others in inward junior who,

13:57.845 --> 13:59.205
you know, mentoring others who were sort

13:59.205 --> 14:00.245
of building up in the sport.

14:00.745 --> 14:02.445
Um, commentators.

14:03.145 --> 14:05.605
Uh, so there were, there were some

14:05.665 --> 14:07.685
who actually rewarded in a way

14:07.795 --> 14:10.325
that kept their athlete identity alive,

14:10.385 --> 14:12.085
but they lived it out in a different way.

14:12.745 --> 14:17.125
Um, others used those skills to develop businesses,

14:17.265 --> 14:19.045
and look at other others,

14:19.265 --> 14:21.805
and some of those businesses related to sports, something

14:21.805 --> 14:23.125
that they actually knew quite well.

14:23.785 --> 14:27.605
So those who were able to read more, their identity in

14:27.605 --> 14:30.445
that way just seemed to struggle less.

14:30.705 --> 14:32.525
And they were the ones who saw themselves

14:32.585 --> 14:33.605
as more than their sport.

14:34.305 --> 14:36.805
Um, so those, those were the three key elements I think

14:36.805 --> 14:39.885
that really came out strongly from, from the interviews.

14:40.365 --> 14:42.365
I mean, the way, the way that,

14:42.865 --> 14:46.245
our athletes actually described it was, this kind of,

14:46.245 --> 14:48.085
sort of this dedication.

14:48.385 --> 14:51.565
It was commitment and dedication and that commitment

14:51.565 --> 14:54.245
and dedication became a part of who they actually were.

14:54.705 --> 14:56.125
And so what they would do

14:56.535 --> 15:00.205
after transitioning out of sport was to apply

15:00.205 --> 15:01.965
that commitment and dedication to try

15:01.965 --> 15:03.885
and find what was coming next.

15:04.545 --> 15:08.365
Um, and in fact, for some athletes, one other element

15:08.365 --> 15:10.805
that kind of emerged in our findings too was

15:10.805 --> 15:13.565
that those athletes who were already well connected

15:14.115 --> 15:15.245
when they were competing,

15:15.245 --> 15:17.405
they weren't solely identified by their sport.

15:17.835 --> 15:20.805
They were thinking about, their careers moving forward,

15:20.835 --> 15:23.765
what would happen post, athletic career.

15:24.345 --> 15:26.565
Um, they applied that same level

15:26.565 --> 15:28.845
of dedication and commitment.

15:29.425 --> 15:31.125
So I don't think you lose that.

15:31.485 --> 15:33.645
I think you applied in a slightly different way.

15:34.105 --> 15:37.125
Our area of future research was very much, about,

15:37.155 --> 15:38.245
well, what do you do about this?

15:38.705 --> 15:41.645
Now that you know that these identity processes are really

15:41.645 --> 15:42.885
implicated in how well

15:42.885 --> 15:47.005
or not somebody transitions to retirement from elite sport,

15:47.625 --> 15:50.045
how are we gonna help athletes actually manage that?

15:50.625 --> 15:52.645
So that's where our more than sport

15:52.645 --> 15:53.965
program actually comes from.

15:54.525 --> 15:57.085
I know that there are other, organizations

15:57.195 --> 15:59.565
that are starting to become interested in identity

15:59.585 --> 16:03.205
and they're looking for holistic style interventions.

16:03.985 --> 16:06.725
Our expertise lies in managing identity,

16:06.725 --> 16:09.645
understanding identity, and managing that identity change.

16:10.065 --> 16:13.485
And so we've developed, this, it's an online, excuse me,

16:13.485 --> 16:15.165
it's an online program that we've actually

16:15.165 --> 16:16.365
developed more than sport.

16:16.635 --> 16:17.805
It's about an hour, an hour

16:17.805 --> 16:19.365
and a half to actually go through.

16:19.385 --> 16:22.325
And it really raises athletes awareness of what identity is,

16:23.025 --> 16:25.165
why it undergoes change,

16:25.545 --> 16:27.805
and how best to sort of engage in some, some

16:27.805 --> 16:29.965
of this identity management to actually smooth

16:29.965 --> 16:33.245
that transition and to start thinking about this over time.

16:33.985 --> 16:38.205
So that's a program that we're, that we've got some,

16:38.435 --> 16:42.365
some initial early feedback on from, from some athletes.

16:42.905 --> 16:44.165
Um, we're trying

16:44.225 --> 16:47.205
to now step up into doing more rigorous trials with it

16:47.305 --> 16:49.765
as we have done with some of our other intervention work.

16:50.065 --> 16:52.045
And we're working with colleagues in Belgium

16:52.345 --> 16:55.125
and in Scotland, and

16:55.425 --> 16:57.845
and in Canada in order to be able to,

16:58.075 --> 16:59.525
explore this program and,

16:59.585 --> 17:01.725
and, you know, find out

17:01.725 --> 17:04.365
how we can actually refine it further based on feedback

17:04.585 --> 17:07.365
and its efficacy with, with athletes.

17:08.065 --> 17:10.245
The other thing for us, I think is like the,

17:10.245 --> 17:11.325
what you were saying earlier on

17:11.325 --> 17:12.445
in terms of the implications.

17:12.605 --> 17:15.965
I mean, who has responsibility for, for managing this?

17:15.965 --> 17:17.485
Look, I think that this has multiple

17:17.485 --> 17:18.645
levels of responsibility.

17:19.085 --> 17:22.005
I think those athletes who are really,

17:22.015 --> 17:24.725
interested in thinking about, well, what happens to me when,

17:24.725 --> 17:26.405
when my sporting career ends?

17:27.025 --> 17:30.285
Um, there is that sort of sense of self-responsibility

17:30.465 --> 17:32.765
and, the, our program is set up in such a way

17:32.765 --> 17:34.365
that it can be self-directed and self-driven.

17:35.025 --> 17:37.405
Um, but I do think that organizations

17:38.285 --> 17:41.085
and coaches have a high level of responsibility here.

17:41.345 --> 17:44.965
One of our team, is a retired elite coach,

17:45.145 --> 17:46.845
and he continues to work in that area.

17:47.465 --> 17:50.245
And it's through it, it's, it's via coaches

17:50.355 --> 17:52.045
that you actually get a number

17:52.045 --> 17:54.485
of our coaches are responsible for building up,

17:54.485 --> 17:56.285
professional athletic identity,

17:56.665 --> 17:58.045
but at the same time, I think

17:58.045 --> 17:59.205
it shouldn't actually be dropped.

17:59.205 --> 18:02.405
They have just as much responsibility, them as well

18:02.405 --> 18:04.245
as the organizations that are supporting athletes

18:04.245 --> 18:06.925
to actually support those athletes in trying

18:06.925 --> 18:08.325
to transition out

18:08.345 --> 18:10.965
and managing who they, who, who an athlete becomes,

18:11.545 --> 18:12.725
after that change.

18:13.065 --> 18:15.805
So I do think that there's some wide responsibility there.

18:16.225 --> 18:20.205
Um, the other thing that I think that we're all very,

18:20.205 --> 18:23.405
conscious of other mental health challenges that,

18:23.405 --> 18:26.725
that athletes experience not only in the context

18:26.945 --> 18:29.405
of sport retirement, but throughout their careers

18:29.405 --> 18:32.485
because of the huge pressures that that they're under.

18:32.945 --> 18:35.485
But particularly in the context of retirement,

18:35.505 --> 18:37.805
we certainly do see mental health challenges.

18:38.385 --> 18:41.725
Um, the statistics actually tell us that, that up

18:41.825 --> 18:44.805
to about 40%,

18:45.225 --> 18:48.245
of elite athletes actually struggle in this

18:48.245 --> 18:49.485
particular life change.

18:49.505 --> 18:52.365
And that's associated with some mental health challenges.

18:53.025 --> 18:57.285
Um, some, some, develop depression,

18:57.345 --> 18:58.685
and high levels of anxiety.

18:59.265 --> 19:03.645
Uh, some choose coping, maladaptive coping, ways

19:03.905 --> 19:07.165
of dealing with the transition, high levels of drinking,

19:07.565 --> 19:08.565
gambling behavior, that sort

19:08.565 --> 19:10.445
of stuff is we've actually seen there as well.

19:10.865 --> 19:12.965
So if we wanna, if we wanna intervene

19:13.425 --> 19:15.925
and prevent some of this from happening, we need

19:15.925 --> 19:17.485
to take a bit more of a holistic approach.

19:18.065 --> 19:19.925
And my view about this is

19:19.925 --> 19:22.845
that if we're seeing these problems to the level

19:22.845 --> 19:26.325
that we are, I mean, if you compare, transitions

19:26.345 --> 19:29.205
to just general workforce retirement, workforce,

19:29.205 --> 19:30.845
retirement is, is half

19:30.945 --> 19:35.325
and less that level of impact as we see on athletes in terms

19:35.325 --> 19:37.165
of the challenging transitions.

19:37.745 --> 19:39.485
So we have a responsibility to try

19:39.485 --> 19:41.085
and prevent some of those, some

19:41.085 --> 19:42.325
of those challenges occurring.

19:42.585 --> 19:45.485
And I hope that our program can actually contribute to some

19:45.485 --> 19:45.645
of that.

"Exploring Identity Change and Social Connections in Life Transitions: Insights from Research on Sport Retirement"

00:00:00 - Doing some work on identity change, and life change in general for quite some time. And we were actually working in the retirement space in that, at that period of time, so just workforce, retirement. And one of my collaborators who was, working in China, had indicated that he had, a lot of contact, and was interested in working in sport retirement. And so he sparked that interest in me. And when I started talking about this a little bit more widely with some of my other colleagues, I've got some colleagues in Europe, I've got some colleagues in, Scotland who are also interested in this area. It just brought the collaboration together. And so it was not because I come from a sporting background,
00:00:47 - where I'm interested in understanding how best can we respond to various forms of life change. And I initially started that through having a clinical background. So I'm a clinical psychologist and I've been very much interested in how people recover from trauma and illness. and so these different life changes also sort of, you know, came to the fore after I started working in the area of aging. So in a sense, it's like one interest sparks another. and it created a, a, a lovely synergy for us. So we've, we've, we've really enjoyed working together. It started off with one study, and I think some of the research that we're actually going
00:01:25 - that's actually developed from that social identity model of identity change or cmic, as we refer to it, is really just what it does is it models the social factors that we found to be critical in how well or not a person adjusts to life change. and the model itself wasn't developed in the sporting context. It was actually developed in, trauma and recovery, context. I was working with, stroke recovery at that time in neuro rehabilitation. And we found that, a number of different social processes were really important in how well people adjusted. And there were three key processes to this.
00:02:08 - in fact, the model is about social group connectedness, not just any social factor. It's about group belonging and feeling a part of group networks, whether they be your family of friendship networks, professional work networks, community or interest networks. So being well connected, being multiple have, having, belonging to multiple different social groups was actually an important foundation. And we found that this has actually been an important foundation because it allows for two things. being well connected before a life change increases the likelihood that you can actually hang on to some
00:02:46 - to provide you with a sense of continuity in the face of change. and also what, belonging to multiple groups does is it gives you the experience, the knowledge, the background, and even the people, who can connect you with new groups, in the context of undergoing change in the context of, you know, losing some of those groups along the way. So it's these three group factors that are really important. And a final element of the model is group compatibility. It's all well and good to be well connected, but it's a lot easier to juggle a lot of those group networks or group relationships that you have if those are ones
00:03:27 - or at odds with one another being connected. So the, the reason why these social group ties are really important is because those social group ties actually give you access to a range of different resources. and you need those resources when you're undergoing change. 'cause change brings a, with it a lot of uncertainty. And the sorts of resources I'm talking about are things like social and emotional support, being there when you're actually un un undergoing some kind of, you know, change that you're not certain what the outcome's actually gonna be, even if it's a change for the good, like going for a promotion or, or, or, or, as you said, appearing at the Olympics and performing at the Olympics.

"Navigating Identity and Belonging in Athletic Retirement: The Importance of Social Connections and Life Transition Planning"

00:04:06 - that our social groups actually give us is access to. They help us to feel more in control of our lives. they help us to feel a sense of belonging. so it's these sorts of resources that we get from those groups in periods of change. Those resources are pretty critical at those, at, at those time points. And that's why those group networks and being connected is important. You don't have those connections. Then who is it that you're actually going to turn to for support, when you're struggling to cope with, what that life change is bringing to you? This is an area sport. Retirement, athletic retirement is actually something that's been going on for some time. So there's quite a lot of literature out there, and there's a number of factors
00:04:48 - that literature is being pretty key to how well people adjust to, leaving, elite sport in particular. So things like planning, things like being, and, and, and within that planning, it's planning about what you, what you're going to be doing next, but also thinking about your financial security. other factors that seem to be important in the transition is having achieved your sporting goals, and factors that undermine that is not having achieved those goals, feeling that there's unfinished business, but also, experiencing injury. so not being able to fulfill the dream and the vision that you actually had for yourself.
00:05:31 - within this too. they've identified, identity, athletic identity is being pretty critical as part of this process too. But the thing that kind of differentiates our work is that we are really homing in on the identity angle. for most other researchers, athletic identity change and loss just seems to be part of the mix. It's a, it's part of the suite of factors or contributors, to, to adjustment. from our point of view, it's much more key than has actually been highlighted in some of that literature. We don't see it as just another factor. We just see it as some, we see it as something that's pretty core.
00:06:12 - as you're building up your professional, athletic identity. When you, when you're performing in sport, your coaches, your teams, everybody is building this up because we actually know that a strong positive athletic identity is associated with better performance. So over the years, an athlete has this identity built up, positively built up to the, for some athletes to the extent that it's their soul identity. and when they leave their sport, this is something that's ignored. It's almost like it's something that's dropped. So it's something that's built up so strongly to actually build on performance and, and promote
00:06:51 - But then after, you know, when, when the athlete's career is over, it's like, okay, identity is just not even discussed anymore. So we just wanted to bring it to the fore. We wanted to bring it far forward so that people see this as a critical element. But also one of the things that we've actually done in the context of this is we've developed a program, we've called it more than sport, that really targets identity management. So our argument is, is that you don't forget identity. You remember that this is something that you've actually built up and what you actually have a responsibility for. And what we think is a duty of care for, for athletes is to actually support them to manage that identity change that they're actually going to go through in the course of
00:07:33 - And the name of the program actually comes from what, from our interview, and some of the work that we're actually talking about, it's what athletes actually said. You know, those, those athletes who actually transitioned really well from, from sport, they're the ones who said, well, there's much more to me than my sport. A lot of people ask me about, you know, my athletic days, but I also want them to ask me about other things. I'm far more than this. I'm more than what I was in that, in that period. That doesn't mean that that wasn't important. It was highly important. It was critical to people, but then more than that, and so that's why we called the program more than sport based on the, based on the feedback that we actually got about identity

"Exploring Identity Change in Athletes: A Comparative Study of Western and Non-Western Experiences"

00:08:13 - We did a qualitative interview on this, pre prior to this particular study, we'd been looking at identity change, did a survey based study, with Chinese athletes, but also with, but also with, western athletes. And part of the reason for actually looking at Western and Chinese athletes was because we were actually interested to see whether the same sorts of processes played out. Because sometimes what you do see, in collectivist cultures like, in, in, in non-Western cultures, that some of these group processes don't play out as strongly. but what we actually found was that those group processes that I identified in the, in cmic, the social identity model
00:08:54 - strongly in both Western and, non-Western athletes. But the problem with the survey-based study is that we are imposing our views and our perspectives in our questions. What we wanted to do is we wanted to delve deeper in terms of trying to get an athlete's, our, get an understanding of what athletes experience of that identity change and loss was, and the study itself. See, one of the thing, one of the things that we wanted to go further on in previous research as well, is that when people think of identity, they often think, and athletic identity in particular, they often think about personal and individual identity. It's me playing out there, it's me who's actually performing. It all comes down to me.
00:09:37 - and a lot of athletes in particular, it isn't just about their personal identity. They train with teams, even if they compete individually. they, they have a team of people behind them that includes their groups and their coaches. We conducted the qualit used qualitative methodology and used a snowballing method in that qualitative methodology. you'll notice with our, with our, with that particular paper, we have multiple authors. and so we drew on our, on our collaborators who have a lot of networks in with, different, sporting groups. And we started with, a small set of individual athletes,
00:10:16 - or introduced the study to a number of their colleagues and friends and peers. and that's how we built that up. So we drew on athletes who had, just retired. They were between one and six years of retirement. so some, some early, some a little bit later. and they competed in a range of different sports. So these were, elite athletes, athletes who were performing at Olympic levels or world championship levels, or were performing, professionally or earning a living from their sport. And so this included footballers. this included, skiers, rowers,
00:10:58 - We had a range of different, athletes who, responded. And so the qualitative, project here included about 21 elite athletes. And that they, they formed our data set part of the interview. There were several things that are kind of highlighted for us. different aspects of identity were actually really important. So I mentioned earlier on, the tendency for us to focus on personal identity, think about what's unique about me and what I contribute. And that's particularly strong in, the athletic world because of, you know, trying to be world champion. And that's certainly something that came out in our interviews. But the other thing that actually came out in our interviews was that group-based identity.
00:11:41 - identifying with other athletes who compete with your particular compete in your particular sport, family identity, those sorts of things were actually also important. And the interesting thing that emerged from the the study was that the athletes who could strategically manage and balance both those aspects of identity, both those aspects of self, they, they were the ones who transitioned better, had a better transition experience. So being able to recognize both aspects of identity and work with those balance those well bring one to the fore when it really needed to be brought, to be made salient, bring the other a little bit further back,

"Navigating Identity Transition: The Challenges and Strategies of Athletes Post-Retirement"

00:12:20 - That was certainly best. The other aspect of identity, or the other identity story that kind of came out of this was this whole notion of, solely identifying or exclusively identifying as an athlete. There are a number of our, of our, of our, athlete participants who did identify in that way. They found it really, really difficult to move on from their sport, because they had not, they've not, developed their identity in other ways. They didn't develop other forms of connection. Being an athlete was everything to them. And when that was taken away, it was really hard to move on.
00:13:01 - that they actually had when they were competing in sport. They were looking for something that was actually giving them the same, the same, the same sort of feeling that they had the same highs that they experienced when competing in sport. and one final thing kind of came out of the res, about, came out of the findings as well. And that was what athletes did with their athletic identity. The athletes who transitioned best were those who were able to kind of re more their identity, recognized that, they were an athlete and they were at their, you know, they were at the height of their, their sport and career,
00:13:44 - and strengths that they acquired as an athlete to apply them in other areas. in most cases, that was either as a mentor, coaching others, coaching others in inward junior who, you know, mentoring others who were sort of building up in the sport. commentators. so there were, there were some who actually rewarded in a way that kept their athlete identity alive, but they lived it out in a different way. others used those skills to develop businesses, and look at other others, and some of those businesses related to sports, something
00:14:23 - So those who were able to read more, their identity in that way just seemed to struggle less. And they were the ones who saw themselves as more than their sport. so those, those were the three key elements I think that really came out strongly from, from the interviews. I mean, the way, the way that, our athletes actually described it was, this kind of, sort of this dedication. It was commitment and dedication and that commitment and dedication became a part of who they actually were. And so what they would do after transitioning out of sport was to apply that commitment and dedication to try
00:15:04 - and in fact, for some athletes, one other element that kind of emerged in our findings too was that those athletes who were already well connected when they were competing, they weren't solely identified by their sport. They were thinking about, their careers moving forward, what would happen post, athletic career. they applied that same level of dedication and commitment. So I don't think you lose that. I think you applied in a slightly different way. Our area of future research was very much, about, well, what do you do about this? Now that you know that these identity processes are really implicated in how well
00:15:47 - how are we gonna help athletes actually manage that? So that's where our more than sport program actually comes from. I know that there are other, organizations that are starting to become interested in identity and they're looking for holistic style interventions. Our expertise lies in managing identity, understanding identity, and managing that identity change. And so we've developed, this, it's an online, excuse me, it's an online program that we've actually developed more than sport. It's about an hour, an hour and a half to actually go through. And it really raises athletes awareness of what identity is,

"Navigating Identity Transition: The Role of Responsibility and Support in Athlete Retirement"**

00:16:25 - and how best to sort of engage in some, some of this identity management to actually smooth that transition and to start thinking about this over time. So that's a program that we're, that we've got some, some initial early feedback on from, from some athletes. we're trying to now step up into doing more rigorous trials with it as we have done with some of our other intervention work. And we're working with colleagues in Belgium and in Scotland, and and in Canada in order to be able to, explore this program and, and, you know, find out how we can actually refine it further based on feedback
00:17:08 - The other thing for us, I think is like the, what you were saying earlier on in terms of the implications. I mean, who has responsibility for, for managing this? Look, I think that this has multiple levels of responsibility. I think those athletes who are really, interested in thinking about, well, what happens to me when, when my sporting career ends? there is that sort of sense of self-responsibility and, the, our program is set up in such a way that it can be self-directed and self-driven. but I do think that organizations and coaches have a high level of responsibility here. One of our team, is a retired elite coach,
00:17:47 - And it's through it, it's, it's via coaches that you actually get a number of our coaches are responsible for building up, professional athletic identity, but at the same time, I think it shouldn't actually be dropped. They have just as much responsibility, them as well as the organizations that are supporting athletes to actually support those athletes in trying to transition out and managing who they, who, who an athlete becomes, after that change. So I do think that there's some wide responsibility there. the other thing that I think that we're all very, conscious of other mental health challenges that, that athletes experience not only in the context
00:18:29 - because of the huge pressures that that they're under. But particularly in the context of retirement, we certainly do see mental health challenges. the statistics actually tell us that, that up to about 40%, of elite athletes actually struggle in this particular life change. And that's associated with some mental health challenges. some, some, develop depression, and high levels of anxiety. some choose coping, maladaptive coping, ways of dealing with the transition, high levels of drinking,
00:19:45 - of stuff is we've actually seen there as well. So if we wanna, if we wanna intervene and prevent some of this from happening, we need to take a bit more of a holistic approach. And my view about this is that if we're seeing these problems to the level that we are, I mean, if you compare, transitions to just general workforce retirement, workforce, retirement is, is half and less that level of impact as we see on athletes in terms of the challenging transitions. So we have a responsibility to try and prevent some of those, some of those challenges occurring. And I hope that our program can actually contribute to some of that.

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