Career decision making, athletics identity, and adjustment difficulties among retired athletes: a comparison between coaches and noncoaches

Identity is considered a central contributor to the career development process in athletes and is thought to influence adjustment to sport career termination. For former athletes, choosing to become a coach may both reflect identity status and affect adjustment to the transition out of sport. In the present study, differences in vocational behaviour, athletic identity, and transitional adjustment difficulties between retired athletes who chose to be coaches (n = 117) and retired athletes who chose careers not related to sport (n = 29) were assessed. Retired athletes were asked to respond to measures of athletic identity, tendency to foreclose, career exploration, transitional adjustment difficulties, life satisfaction, and career choice satisfaction. Relative to non-coaches, coaches reported a stronger tendency to foreclose and less engagement in exploration of career possibilities other than coaching. Coaches and noncoaches did not differ in retrospective reports of athletic identity at the time of retirement, but non-coaches had significantly weaker athletic identity at the time of assessment. No differences were found in transitional adjustment difficulties.