Post-Athletic Career Profiles in Adulthood: Identity Formation and Well-Being of Former NCAA Division I and II Intercollegiate Athletes

Most intercollegiate athletes face a dual transition upon college graduation: transitioning from high-level competitive sport and entering adulthood. Athletes’ distinct developmental concerns caused by years of devotion to sport combined with the impact of positive identity development on subsequent career transitions led us to assess career identity formation profiles of former athletes during adulthood. We also investigated how resulting profiles differ according to well-being to distinguish well-adjusted profiles from maladaptive ones. Through cluster analyses, nine profiles emerged from a sample of 451 former intercollegiate athletes, with variants in moratorium illustrating a more incremental process of career exploration. New variants distinguished between intrinsically and extrinsically motivated commitments. While expressive achievement (9.6% of the sample) emerged as the most optimal profile, troubled diffusion (12.9%) and preliminary moratorium (11.3%) were the most maladaptive statuses, indicating severe identity confusion. Implications for research on former athletes’ career identity development and sport counseling practice are discussed.