Mapping cognitive positions on fear of retirement among sport professional handball players

Abstract

Not all professional athletes experience retirement from sport in the same way, and the consequences of retirement can vary from one individual to another. The objective of the present study was to map the way in which male professional handball players cognitively integrated four information cues (social support, career achievements, preparation for retirement, and sports practice after retirement as a professional) when judging the degree of fear of retirement from professional sport. A total of 146 participants rated their judgment of fear of retirement from professional sport in 54 scenarios built from all possible combinations of these information cues. By performing cluster analyses and analyses of variance, four clusters were identified: “No Fear When Fully Prepared”; “Less Fear”; “Undetermined”; “Fear Always Present”. When judging retirement from professional sport, professional handball players had different positions. Practitioners should take account of these differences when helping athletes to prepare for or deal with retirement from professional sport.