Career-Ending Injuries in Sport: An Exploration of the Psychological Impact on Self- Efficacy/Self-Confidence, Self-Identity, and Re-Socialization
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Authors
Salimi, Bobby
Issue Date
2008
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This research intended to explore the psychological impacts that career-ending sports injuries may have on those who sustain them. The researcher interviewed a handful of people who have had their careers in sport ended by way of injury. The interviews were administered in an open-ended questioning format, although direct attention was given toward the investigation of three main psychological categories: self efficacy/self-confidence, self-identity, and the concept of re-socialization (the socializing process post-injury as a non-athlete). The qualitative method of grounded theory was used to analyze the data. This methodology enabled the researcher to implement his findings back into the research in a process of circular analysis. Furthermore, concepts and trends were allowed to freely emerge from the data. Results indicate that such athletes indeed face immense challenges in their post-career/post-injury stage. Major themes that emerged include: sport defining the sense of self, feeling lost without the sport, lower perceived interpersonal confidence after the departure from sport, and depressed mood after the departure from sport, among others. The research supported the notion that career-ending injuries are not only physically traumatic, but psychologically traumatic as well. Athletes reported difficulty and turmoil in perceived confidence levels, their senses of selfhood, and socializing skills in the post-career stage.