Retirement from elite sports has a great influence on the athlete’s life, thus has become an important topic in the sport career development and transitions research (see Lavallee, Wylleman, & Sinclair, Reference Lavallee, Wylleman, Sinclair, Lavallee and Wylleman2000 for a review). Between late 60’s and late 80’s, numerous sport psychology studies focused on the negative experiences the athletes undergo at the time of their retirement (e.g., Allison & Meyer, Reference Allison and Meyer1988; Hill & Lowe, Reference Hill and Lowe1974; Mihovilovic, Reference Mihovilovic1968; Ogilvie & Howe, Reference Ogilvie, Howe and Williams1986; Svoboda & Vanek, Reference Svoboda, Vanek, Orlick, Partington and Salmela1982; Werthner & Orlick, Reference Werthner and Orlick1986). Later studies revealed an alternative aspect according to which the athlete feels relieved from the heavy burden of the commitment to an athletic career (e.g., Alfermann & Gross, Reference Alfermann, Gross, Lidor and Bar-Eli1997; Coakley, Reference Coakley1983; Greendorfer & Blinde, Reference Greendorfer and Blinde1985; Wylleman, De Knop, Menkehorst, Theeboom, & Annarel, Reference Wylleman, De Knop, Menkerhorst, Theeboom, Annerel, Serpa, Alves, Ferreira and Paula-Brito1993). This “crisis or social rebirth” research dilemma was answered by McPherson (Reference McPherson1984) who claimed that the approach of athletic retirement as a single event, that is automatically traumatic or relieving, should be replaced by considering it as the beginning of a transitional procedure. According to Schlossberg’s transition theory (Schlossberg, Reference Schlossberg1981; Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, Reference Schlossberg, Waters and Goodman1995), a transition is “an event or non-event which results in a change in assumptions about oneself and the world and thus requires a corresponding change in one’s behavior and relationships” (Schlossberg, Reference Schlossberg1981, p.5). In order to understand the individual’s effort to respond to this change, the transition’s type (anticipated, unanticipated, non-event), context (one’s relationship to the transition, e.g., the coping strategies), and impact (i.e., the extent to which one’s daily life is changed) should be studied. Additionally, four major sets of factors identified as situation, self, support, and strategies influence a transitional procedure in an adult’s life.
The academic world embraced this view, an idea that is clearly expressed in the definition provided by the European Federation of Sport Psychology: “athletic retirement is a transition that requires former athletes’ adjustment in occupational, financial, psychological and social spheres of life” (FEPSAC, 1999). In order to comprehend the transition, research has been conducted studying the retirement reasons and revealing a plentitude of factors that influence the transitional process (e.g., Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Baillie, Reference Baillie1993; Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman, & Zupancic, Reference Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman and Zupanzic2004; Crook & Robertson, Reference Crook and Robertson1991; Fernandez, Stephan, & Fouquereau, Reference Fernandez, Stephan and Fouquereau2006; Koukouris, Reference Koukouris1991; Lavallee, Grove, & Gordon, Reference Lavallee, Grove and Gordon1997). As summarized in the International Society of Sport Psychology position stand (Stambulova, Alfermann, Statler, & Côté, Reference Stambulova, Alfermann, Statler and Côté2009), research showed that retirement planning (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Coakley, Reference Coakley1983;), voluntary termination (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Cecic-Erpic et al., Reference Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman and Zupanzic2004; Stambulova, Stephan, & Jäphag, Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007; Taylor & Ogilvie, Reference Taylor and Ogilvie1994, Reference Taylor, Ogilvie, Singer, Hausenblas and Janelle2001), multiple personal identities (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, Reference Brewer, Van and Linder1993; Cecic-Erpic et al., Reference Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman and Zupanzic2004; Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon, Reference Grove, Lavallee and Gordon1997; Lally, Reference Lally2007), availability of social support (Mihovilovic, Reference Mihovilovic1968; Stephan, Bilard, Ninot, & Delignieres, Reference Stephan, Bilard, Ninot and Delignieres2003; Werthner & Orlick, Reference Werthner and Orlick1986), and active coping strategies (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Grove et al., Reference Grove, Lavallee and Gordon1997; Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007; Taylor & Ogilvie, Reference Taylor and Ogilvie1994, Reference Taylor, Ogilvie, Singer, Hausenblas and Janelle2001) facilitate athletes’ adaptation to post career. Athletic retirement has been also viewed as a decision process including the interaction and balance between push (i.e., negative considerations about the athlete’s present life which induce to retirement), pull (i.e., the positive aspects of the post career life that attract towards retirement), anti-push (i.e., the attachment to the sports career), and anti-pull factors (i.e., the uncertainty of the post-sports life; Fernandez et al., Reference Fernandez, Stephan and Fouquereau2006). What is more, literature indicated the influence of non-athletic factors upon the career transition out of sports, factors such as non-athletic transitions (e.g., transitions in the academic and occupational career; Wylleman & Lavallee, Reference Wylleman, Lavallee and Weiss2004), ageing and its implications (e.g., Taylor & Ogilvie, Reference Taylor and Ogilvie1994; Werthner & Orlick, Reference Werthner and Orlick1986), current status and occupation (e.g., Cecic-Erpic et al., Reference Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman and Zupanzic2004; Conzelmann & Nagel, Reference Conzelmann and Nagel2003), and the cultural context of the transition (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009; Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007).
Most of the aforementioned studies were conducted in North America, Australia, and Central and Northern Europe where sport career transition programs were also developed (Anderson & Morris, Reference Anderson, Morris, Lavallee and Wylleman2000). Recognizing the need for culturally sensitive practice and research, Stambulova and Alfermann (Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009) emphasized that researchers should avoid simply transferring “universal” theoretical frameworks from the existing studies to any socio-cultural context. It is not only the cultural context of the athlete that can influence the transition, it is the cultural context of the researchers themselves as well that may intervene when conducting research, through the preference of theoretical models, the use of certain instrument, the choice of data collection, the results interpretation, and also the researchers’ race and gender (Ryba, Reference Ryba, Schinke and Hanrahan2009; Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). In Europe, the attempt to study retirement within its socio-cultural context was accomplished through the European Perspectives on Athletic Retirement Project (EPAR; Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). The focus of the project was placed on investigating the retirement process of elite athletes proceeding from different European cultures: Germany, Lithuania, and Russia (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004), France and Sweden (Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007).
We deemed appropriate to place the present study within the same theoretical framework as the studies of the EPAR. This career transition framework is a combination of existing transition models deriving from different socio-cultural contexts; from North American (Schlossberg, Reference Schlossberg1981; Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, Reference Schlossberg, Waters and Goodman1995; Taylor & Ogilvie, Reference Taylor and Ogilvie1994,Reference Taylor, Ogilvie, Singer, Hausenblas and Janelle2001), Central European (Alfermann, Reference Alfermann, Lavallee and Wylleman2000), and Eastern European cultures (Stambulova, Reference Stambulova1994). Through this synthesis, athletic retirement was viewed as a transitional process involving the (a) preconditions, that is athletic identity during sports career, satisfaction with the athletic career, reasons for termination, retirement planning, voluntary/involuntary retirement, timeliness of retirement; (b) transitional period, that is coping strategies, emotional reactions to retirement, perceived difficulties during the transition –including the difficulty to change identity–, perceived financial and psychological support, duration of the transition; and (c) consequences, that is current satisfaction, perceived professional success, and relation to sports nowadays.
The Ecological Model of Human Development (Bronfenbrenner, Reference Bronfenbrenner1979) was combined along with the transition models in order to culturally situate the study. According to Bronfenbrenner, human development is influenced by micro-social (e.g., family, peers), meso-social (e.g., school), and macro-social factors (e.g., cultural values, traditions). Following the adaptation of this model in elite sports climate, athletes’ development occurs in a context that can be described by micro-level (e.g., coaches, family, the athlete’s biopsychosocial situation, training techniques), meso-level (e.g., federations, clubs, media attention, sport policies, counseling programs for athletes), and macro-level factors (e.g., geography, political and economical stability, cultural characteristics; Wylleman, & Lavallee, Reference Wylleman, Lavallee and Weiss2004; De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, & Shibli, Reference De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg and Shibli2006).
In order to increase the cultural sensitivity of this research, the transitional process should be understood within a given socio-cultural context. At macro-social level, Greece and Spain are countries geographically situated in Southern Europe and share many characteristics. As nations, they manifest parallel patterns of political behavior; for example, they form consolidated democracies since mid-1970s with a common past of inability to sustain stable democratic regimes. As cultures, viewed through the construct of cultural syndromes (Triandis, Reference Triandis1995), both cultures were traditionally considered primarily collectivistic (Hofstede, Reference Hofstede1984), but also showed the tendency to evolve into more individualistic (e.g., Doumanis, Reference Doumanis1983; Gouveia, Clemente, & Espinosa, Reference Gouveia, Clemente and Espinosa2003). Concerning the socio-labor environment, employees in Greece and Spain experience difficulties in combining family duties with work. This poor work-family balance could be attributed to a highly family-oriented policy model promoted in both countries and according to which social support is both received by and directed to the family, hence individuals do not receive institutional support to reconcile the demands of the family and work (e.g., Cantera, Cubells, Martínez, & Blanch, Reference Cantera, Cubells, Martínez and Blanch2009; Kotowska et al., Reference Kotowska, Matysiak, Styrc, Pailhé, Solaz and Vignoli2010). Many similarities could also be observed in the meso-social level, regarding their sport culture. Greek and Spanish elite athletes, when successful, received public recognition and media attention but only a few of them could rely financially on their investment in sport. The course of the athletes’ sport careers depended largely on the decisions made by sport authorities. However, after retirement former athletes had to decide on their own and find a job. The lack of organizational support during and after the sports career was evident. Recently in Spain, sport career assistance programs were developed, but their impact on sports culture will only become visible on the future generations of athletes (Mateos, Torregrosa, & Cruz, Reference Mateos, Torregrosa and Cruz2010). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, sport career development was also neglected on the academic research level. Apart from a few notable and widely cited studies (Chamalidis, Reference Chamalidis, Vanfraechem-Raway and Vanden Auweele1995; Koukouris, Reference Koukouris1991, Reference Koukouris2005), Greek literature had little to offer on the subject. In Spain, a growing interest for the study of athletic retirement could be noticed (e.g., González & Bedoya, Reference González and Bedoya2008; Torregrosa, Boixadós, Valiente, & Cruz, Reference Torregrosa, Boixadós, Valiente and Cruz2004).
The recent cultural turn discourse in sport psychology (Ryba, Schinke, & Tenembaum, Reference Ryba, Schinke and Tenembaum2010) calls for a more socio-culturally situated career research and assistance to athletes (Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). In an attempt to fulfill this need, the aim of the present study was to compare the retirement transitions of Greek and Spanish elite athletes in terms of (a) preconditions, (b) transitional period, and (c) consequences of the transition. Based on the abovementioned cultural commonalities between Greece and Spain, we hypothesized that more similarities than differences would be detected that would suggest a culturally common pattern.
Method
Participants
The total sample of the study consisted of 133 former elite athletes from Greece (n = 76) and Spain (n = 57). We used two criteria for including participants in the study: (a) participation in competitions at national and international level; (b) retirement from sports at least one year ago. Greek participants (56 males, 20 females) competed at national (49%) or international (51%) level in football (n = 18), athletics (n = 7), volleyball (n = 7), basketball (n = 6), water polo (n = 6), swimming (n = 6), rowing (n = 5), handball (n = 3), sailing (n = 3), cycling (n = 3), canoeing (n = 2), gymnastics (n = 2), karate (n = 2), beach volley (n = 1), table tennis (n = 1), fencing (n = 1), taekwondo (n = 1), wrestling (n = 1), and Greco – Roman wrestling (n = 1). Respectively, Spanish participants (47 males, 10 females) competed at national (42%) or international (58%) level in athletics (n = 20), football (n = 14), hockey (n = 6), cycling (n = 4), futsal (n = 4), basketball (n = 2), table tennis (n = 2), fencing (n = 2), badminton (n = 2), and judo (n = 1). Both samples are representative of the athlete population at the Olympic Games in terms of gender distribution.
Regarding the total sample, participants’ age ranged between 19 and 55 years old (M = 34.89, SD = 9.11). They retired on average at the age of 27.50 (SD = 6.97) while their sport careers had a total duration of 3 to 31 years (M = 16.05, SD = 7.39) and the average time elapsed since their retirement was 7.39 (SD = 6.00) years. Further details for the athletic careers of the Greek and Spanish participants appear in Table 1.
Table 1. Means (and standard deviations) for participants’ characteristics
**p < .01, ***p < .001.
Instrument
The participants answered the Retirement from Sports Survey (RfSS; Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004). This instrument was developed for cross-cultural comparisons of retiring/retired athletes and it was used in the EPAR. The authors received the English version directly from the instrument’s authors. The first and the fourth author translated the basic survey into Greek and Spanish respectively, the translations were triangulated with language experts, and pilot studies were conducted to ensure that participants understood the questions and instructions.
First we asked the participants to provide general and sport demographic data. Then we presented them with a set of questions. The information obtained can be divided in three sections: (a) preconditions, (b) transitional period, and (c) consequences.
Preconditions. Athletic identity during sports career was measured through a shortened 5-item version of the scale of Brewer et al. (Reference Brewer, Van and Linder1993). Answers were given on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much), with higher values corresponding to higher athletic identity (α = .77). Satisfaction with the athletic career was evaluated by a multiple choice question with five answers from “completely satisfied” to “completely dissatisfied” that worked as a 5-point scale with higher values corresponding to higher satisfaction. In the original version of the survey, reasons for the athletic career termination were explored via a ranking procedure according to which participants were asked to rate six potential groups of reasons (i.e., job-, sport-, relationships-, health-, family-related reasons, and financial reasons) from 1 (the least important group of reasons) to 6 (the most important group of reasons). This evaluation method was maintained in the Spanish version but was changed in the Greek version. After suggestion that arose through cognitive interviews, Greek participants were asked to rate each group of reasons from 1 (not important reason) to 6 (very important reason) rather than rank them. Moreover, in order to investigate whether retirement was planned and voluntary participants were asked two yes/no questions. Additionally, they expressed their satisfaction for the time the retirement occurred on a 5-point scale from 1 (too early) via 3 (quite opportune) to 5 (too late).
Transitional period. To measure emotional reactions upon retirement the athletes rated, on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much), a list of five typical negative emotions (α = .82), that is anxiety, emptiness, sadness, uncertainty, and aggression, and five typical positive emotions (α = .74), that is freedom, happiness, joy, relief, and relaxation. Areas of perceived difficulties during the transition included professional career, studies, family, communication and leisure activities. Each item was assessed by a 5-point Likert scale anchored from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). The difficulty to change identity was explored through one yes/no question. Participants also rated the degree of perceived financial and psychological support (e.g., from parents, spouse, friends, etc.) on 5-points Likert scales from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Coping reactions, that is denial, active coping, planning, alcohol–drug disengagement, behavioral disengagement, venting of feelings (i.e., saying things to escape unpleasant feelings and expressing negative feelings), seeking social support for emotional reasons, positive reinterpretation, mental disengagement (i.e., doing something to think about it less and making jokes), and acceptance, were measured through a 12-item scale list diriving from a coping questionnaire developed by Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub (Reference Carver, Scheier and Weintraub1989). Item content was adapted to athletic retirement context (e.g., “I have been refusing to believe that my sports career is really finished”) and each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale with a higher value corresponding to higher approval of the coping strategy. Intercorrelations between the items were moderate; most coefficients were in a range between – 0.1 and +0.2 and the highest was 0.60. This was expected because the 12 items represented different coping strategies. Athletes were also asked about how much time (in months) they needed to adapt to the post-career life.
Consequences. Athletic identity nowadays (still feeling like an athlete) was measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Four items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) formed the scale for general life satisfaction (α = .78). To explore satisfaction with professional choice and perceived success in the professional career two yes/no questions were asked. Finally, the retired athletes assessed their current relation with sports by answering eight yes/no statements like “I do exercise for my self”.
Procedure
We considered snowball sampling and collection of data via personal contact as more culturally relevant and suitable for the nature of the population, which are retired athletes who are hard to locate. Questionnaires were self-administered at the athletes’ preferred location. We previously informed all participants about the nature and purpose of the study, as well as about terms of anonymity and confidentiality through a signed informed consent.
Results
We calculated the mean differences between the Greek and the Spanish samples by conducting separated one-way ANOVAs for scale answers or Chi-Square comparisons for yes/no answers. To avoid type I error, the Bonferroni correction was applied (.05 / number of variables) and α levels were set at .004 for coping strategies, at .01 for difficulties, at .01 for financial support, at .007 for psychological support, and at .006 for current relation to sport. We presented our results from the Greek and the Spanish samples in three tables that correspond to the three phases of the transition; that is preconditions, transitional period, and consequences of the retirement.
Preconditions
The mean differences between the Greek and the Spanish samples regarding the preconditions of the transition out of sport were calculated (Table 2). The only significant difference between the two samples was the Greek retired athletes’ higher satisfaction with their athletic careers, F(1, 131) = 94.86, p < .001, η2 = .41. Considering the rest of the variables, they manifested a considerably common pattern. No significant difference was observed concerning the degree to which athletes from both countries felt identified with the athletic role during their career. There was no significant difference for retirement planning or for voluntary retirement. No difference was found on the satisfaction with the time of career termination. What is more, it should be highlighted that both samples reported quite high scores on the athletic identity during sports career, quite high percentages of voluntary retirement but rather low percentages of planned retirement. As far as the reasons for retirement are concerned, means were calculated for the Greek sample and frequencies for the Spanish, because different measure methods had been applied. Analysis showed that Greek elite athletes retired mainly due to job-, sport-, and health-related reasons. The ranking for the retirement causes of Spanish elite athlete brought job-related reasons in the first place, while health-related reasons were in the second place and sport-related in the third.
Table 2. Means (standard deviations) or frequencies, and F or χ2 value for the pre-conditions of the transition in retired Greek and Spanish athletes
***p < .001.
Transitional period
Table 3 reports mean differences between the Greek and the Spanish samples. Facing the transitional period, accounting for Bonferroni correction, Spanish retiring athletes engaged more on active coping than their Greek colleagues, F(1, 128) = 12.96, p < .001, η2 = .09. There were no significant differences for the rest of the coping strategies. The strategy that received the higher score for both samples was acceptance and the strategies with the lowest scores were alcohol-drug disengagement along with behavioural disengagement (i.e., giving up). Comparison of the emotional reactions, both negative and positive, revealed no differences. With reference to the difficulties the transition raises, the means for the various difficulties’ categories were low and their differences were not significant. However, significantly more Greek than Spanish elite athletes stated the difficulty in changing identity after their retirement, 41% versus 11%, χ2(1, N = 133) = 14.86, p < .001. Regarding the perceived support, retired Greek athletes evaluated higher than the Spanish the financial support from their parents; because the assumption of homogeneity of variance was violated, the Welch F-ratio is reported, F(1, 126.26) = 25.22, p < .001, η2 = .15. No further differences were detected for the financial or the perceived psychological support. The means of the Table 3 show that athletes from both countries rated high the perceived support, both financial and psychological, from the family (i.e., parents, other relatives, and spouse) and friends, whereas they gave very low scores to the support from sport agents (i.e., sport organizations and officials). Finally, there was no difference in the amount of time that Greek and Spanish retired athletes reported that they needed to adjust to the life after sports.
Table 3. Means (standard deviations) or frequencies, and F or χ2 value for the transitional period of retirement in retired Greek and Spanish athletes
***p < .001.
Consequences
Mean differences were also calculated for the third and final phase of the transition out of sports (Table 4). No significant differences were detected for any of the variables of the consequences of athletic retirement in Greek and Spanish former elite athletes. Eighty-six percent of the retired athletes from both countries stated their satisfaction with their current professional choice and 80% perceived their current careers as successful. There was no significant difference for general life satisfaction and athletes appeared to feel quite at ease. Regarding athletic identity nowadays, Greek and Spanish retired athletes did not differ significantly and the total sample reported a quite high score. Additionally, both reported high percentages of still exercising and being sport fans. Finally, most Greek and Spanish former athletes maintained a professional relationship with the sports world, that is working professionally or having an additional job related to sport.
Table 4. Means (standard deviations) or frequencies, and F or χ2 value for the consequences of the transition in retired Greek and Spanish athletes
Discussion
The results of the present study supported the hypothesis that Greek and Spanish former elite athletes would bear more similarities than differences regarding their transition out of sports. We culturally situated the retirement experiences of Greek and Spanish elite athletes by describing, in our introduction, the common macro- and meso-social factors in their contexts, and at micro-level we compared their reactions to athletic retirement. Placing the present research within the EPAR Project we will begin the discussion of our results by highlighting the findings that are common throughout the studies of the same project with samples from France and Sweden (Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007), Germany, Lithuania and Russia (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004). Then, we will focus on the similarities that arose from the comparison between Greek and Spanish retired athletes proposing a common pattern for Southern European cultures, even though further research with more Southern European cultures would be required in order to support such pattern. Finally, we will comment on the nationally specific differences between the two samples of the study.
Considering this work in relation to the findings of the other studies in the EPAR Project (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007), we can conclude that athletes from several European cultures share some characteristics regarding preconditions, transitional period, and consequences of the athletic retirement. More specifically, retired athletes from France, Greece, Spain, and Sweden usually had a high athletic identity during their sports careers. The majority of them perceived their retirement as voluntary and occurring at an opportune time or a bit earlier. Coping strategies also seemed to follow a common pattern. Athletes from the abovementioned countries as well as from Germany, Lithuania, and Russia managed to handle the transition mainly by accepting the reality of retirement. What is more, French, Greek, Spanish, and Swedish athletes also turned to positive reinterpretation and coming up with a strategy or plan as means to cope with retirement, while the least used strategies were giving up and the use of substances such as drugs and alcohol. Close family, that is, parents and spouse, and friends appeared to be the main source of financial and psychological support, whereas the lack of perceived support from sport officials, sport organizations, former coaches and psychologists was largely reported. After their retirement, the vast majority of the athletes from these countries kept a relation to sport by multiple ways, such as exercising themselves, visiting competitions as fans, advising informally young athletes, keeping relations with former coaches and sport friends, and having a job (main or additional) in sports. Overall, the results of this study provided information that may strengthen the common pattern in the process of retirement, which had been proposed in the studies of the EPAR so far (Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). Voluntary retirement, facing the transition with acceptance, support from close family (parents and spouse) and friends, lack of support from sport organizations, and keeping a strong relation to sports (mainly by exercising themselves) were the cross-culturally common characteristics of the transition of retired athletes from European cultures. These characteristics were shared among cultures that could be described as more individualistic (France, Germany, and Sweden) as well as more collectivistic (Greece, Lithuania, Russia, and Spain) according to Hofstede’s (Reference Hofstede1984) typology.
The comparison between the Greek and Spanish athletes revealed many similarities in their athletic retirement. Athletes from Greece and Spain started their careers at 11–12 years old and felt quite identified with their athletic role. Most athletes retired voluntary but few athletes planned their retirement. They perceived their retirement as occurring at the right time or a bit earlier. They retired mainly due to professional reasons (e.g., finding a better job or graduating from university) similarly to the German elite athletes (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004). This similarity between the three cultures may derive from the fact that elite athletes in these countries could not rely financially on their athletic career, thus a professional opportunity might have led to an athletic retirement decision. Nevertheless, job-related reasons, when considered as a factor pulling to retirement following the retirement reasons’ typology of Fernandez et al. (Reference Fernandez, Stephan and Fouquereau2006), can be associated to the positive aspects of the post athletic career life. Regarding the transitional period, Greek and Spanish elite athletes used the same coping strategies and mainly acceptance. Considering their emotional reactions in relation with the corresponding scores reported in the other EPAR studies, Greek and Spanish elite athletes appeared to have experienced more negative emotions upon retirement, but still the negative emotions could be described as moderate. Retirement did not cause difficulties in fields such as professional career, studies, family, communication, and leisure activities. Family, mostly parents, and friends seemed to be the most important, if not the only, source of psychological and financial support to the retiring athletes. After retirement, most Greek and Spanish athletes still held a tight relation to sports by exercising themselves, visiting competitions as fans, and still feeling like an athlete. Nearly half of the athletes worked professionally or had an additional work related to sports. Similar percentages were reported by the French sample (Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007), whereas the corresponding rate was approximately 24% for Swedish athletes (Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007) and approximately 28% for German athletes (Conzelmann & Nagel, Reference Conzelmann and Nagel2003). This finding reinforced the concept of relocation in sports that arose from studies with Spanish samples and according to which most of the retired elite athletes do not exactly retire but they rather relocate themselves into the athletic world by following a professional career in sports (Torregrosa et al., Reference Torregrosa, Boixadós, Valiente and Cruz2004; Torregrosa & Mimbrero, Reference Torregrosa and Mimbrero2000). To sum up, on the one hand, some of these similarities are in line with the aforementioned cross-cultural common pattern of many European cultures. On the other hand, some commonalities deviate from this pattern formulating a culturally common pattern between Greek and Spanish elite athletes. Based on these similarities we propose a common pattern of athletic retirement from athletes proceeding from Southern European cultures that consists of lack of retirement planning, high athletic identity after sports career, and predominance of relocation in sports.
Besides the many characteristics they shared, the athletic retirement transitions of Greek and Spanish athletes also presented some differences that represent and detail further the developing Southern European perspective on athletes’ career and retirement. To begin with, they differed regarding their athletic careers; most Spanish athletes reached their best performance later, retired older, and had longer sport careers than their Greek colleagues. Moreover, Spanish athletes usually appeared less satisfied with their athletic careers. During the transitional period, Spanish athletes seemed to engage more in active coping which is considered as a factor that facilitates the adaptation to life after sports (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Grove et al., Reference Grove, Lavallee and Gordon1997; Stambulova et al., Reference Stambulova, Stephan and Jäphag2007; Taylor & Ogilvie, Reference Taylor and Ogilvie1994, Reference Taylor, Ogilvie, Singer, Hausenblas and Janelle2001). Additionally, more Greek than Spanish athletes (approximately 41% vs. 11% respectively) appeared to find it difficult to change their athletic identities after retirement. Upon retirement, athletes are faced with the challenge to change their identification to the athletic role and a strong athletic identity may provoke stress and anxiety (Grove et al., Reference Grove, Lavallee and Gordon1997). Both Greek and Spanish athletes reported high athletic identity during sports career, but possibly it was easier for many Spanish athletes to decrease this identification because they used more active coping, a problem-focused coping strategy that includes efforts in altering the source of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, Reference Lazarus and Folkman1984). However, these are only hypotheses based on the existing literature as well as the description and comparison between the two samples. Finally, the present results indicate that Greek retiring athletes relied more than the Spanish on the financial support from their parents. Although it was not statistically tested, this finding might be better understood when combined with the result that Greek athletes retired at a younger age, which could mean that they might still be financially dependent from their families. In summary, the national-specific patterns of the athletic retirement suggest differences mainly in the preconditions and the transitional period.
Taking into consideration the limitations of the present study can help to improve future research attempts. To begin with, the sample of the study is rather small and very mixed, including various sport modalities. Additionally, the present work includes only two Southern European cultures. In order to ascertain whether a Southern European perspective really exists, further research should include samples from other Southern European countries, such as Italy, Malta, and Portugal, and at the same time researchers should develop “cultural mindsets” for career research, that is, to integrate into their studies approaches from cultural and cross-cultural psychology (Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). What is more, by placing the study within the EPAR Project we decided to maintain the same theoretical framework, design, and methodology in order to make our results comparable to those of the other EPAR studies. This might have narrowed our scope on a topic such complex and multifaceted as the athletic retirement. More precisely, the retrospective design might have caused a recall bias, especially when considering the amount of time passed between retirement and the study. Furthermore, the quantitative methodology may fail to capture the entire complexity of the retirement process. A possible way to face these limitations could be by using a qualitative approach with a combination of both prospective and retrospective designs, for example interviews with athletes before and after they retire. We also realized that by treating nationality as an independent variable, we ran the risk of objectifying culture, that is treat Southern European culture as a fixed reality (Ryba, Reference Ryba, Schinke and Hanrahan2009), a criticism already made by the same researchers of the EPAR Project (Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009). Being aware that a quantitative method can not escape this risk we intended to compensate for this shortcoming by describing the cultural context of the research. What is more, we should emphasize the fact that the further aspiration of this study is to raise cultural awareness amongst researchers and practitioners in the field and not to provide fix guidelines on how to treat athletes from different cultures.
The detection of cultural patterns in athletic retirement may provide several ideas for practical implementations. With regard to the cross-cultural pattern, proposed by previous studies of the EPAR Project (Stambulova & Alfermann, Reference Stambulova and Alfermann2009) and strengthened by our findings, we emphasize the perceived lack of support from organizations that most athletes reported in all the studied countries. At meso-level, this means that policy makers should care about the athletes not only during their careers but during their retirement as well. Considering the Southern European pattern we proposed, more sport career assistance programs should be developed, particularly in Greece where, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such programs exist. Because lack of retirement planning appears to describe this pattern and at the same time retirement planning was described as a facilitating factor of the transition (Alfermann et al., Reference Alfermann, Stambulova and Zemaityte2004; Coakley, Reference Coakley1983; Torregrosa et al., Reference Torregrosa, Boixadós, Valiente and Cruz2004), sport career assistance programs in Southern European cultures should specially focus on planning the transition out of sports apart from supporting the athletes in the various sport career transitions. At micro-level, applied psychologists that work with retiring/retired athletes from Greece and Spain, should take into account that after retirement the athletes may still feel quite identified with the athletic role. Moreover and according to the national-specific pattern of the Greek athletes, many elite athletes from Greece encountered difficulties in abandoning their identification with the athletic role upon retirement. Literature has suggested that athletic identity can work as a barrier at the retirement process (Baillie, Reference Baillie1993; Cecic-Erpic et al., Reference Cecic-Erpic, Wylleman and Zupanzic2004; Grove et al., Reference Grove, Lavallee and Gordon1997; Lally, Reference Lally2007; Mateos et al., Reference Mateos, Torregrosa and Cruz2010), therefore interventions and counselling should cover this issue. In conclusion, taking into consideration the importance of the culture, where athletes come from or retire, and detecting cultural patterns can help in forming a culturally sensitive practice in sports career assistance.
On the whole, we compared the retirement transitions of Greek and Spanish elite athletes and proposed a Southern European view adding on the European perspectives of athletic retirement. Besides contributing an additional cultural perspective to the EPAR Project, the present study intended to be contextually informed by recognizing the importance of culture as a context. The practical implications relate to a deeper understanding of the nature of the transition as well as to cultural awareness. Acknowledging and considering cultural patterns seems to be important when conducting research on sport career development issues as the gained knowledge could serve to design or culturally adapt sport career assistance programs.
