Reasons for Retirement and the Influence of Retirement on the Life Adjustment amongst Hong Kong Elite Athletes

Mei DU*, Eva Hiu Lun Tsai

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In recent years, there is a growing interest amongst researchers regarding athletes’ retirement. While research in this area in western countries is slowly building, research in Hong Kong athletes has gained little attention. The present study examined Hong Kong elite athletes’ reasons for retirement and the influence of the retirement reasons on their perception of general life satisfaction and adjustment quality which reflected how well they adapted to their post-retirement life. Analysis of self-administered questionnaires from 75 retired athletes suggested that important reasons for their retirement were difficulties in coordinating sport and study or working demands, and physiological (e.g., injury, age) and financial reasons. Most of them perceived the transition out of sport as a smooth experience. Financial, physiological and burnout (tired of the lifestyle) reasons for retirement were found to be significantly negatively associated with athletes’ general life satisfaction. The more they retired due to the three kinds of reasons, the less satisfied they felt toward their current life.

    近年來對於運動員退役的研究越來越多,特別是在西方國家,但是對於香港運動員退役的研究相對較少。本研究調查了香港精英運動員退役的原因及這些原因對他們適應退役後生活的狀況及總體生活滿意度的影響。根據75份問卷分析發現大多數香港精英運動員退役是由於難以協調運動訓練與工作或學習的時間,以及生理和經濟的原因。較多受訪者認為退役轉型的過程較為順利。研究還發現,出於經濟原因、生理原因(例如:傷病、年齡)、和厭倦運動訓練生活而退役,對於運動員退役後總體生活滿意度,有顯著的影響。而出於這三種原因而退役的運動員,對自己的總體生活滿意度則較低。
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)29-35
    Number of pages7
    JournalAsian Journal of Physical Education and Recreation
    Volume13
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2007

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Athlete retirement
    • retirement reasons
    • adjustment quality
    • general life satisfaction

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