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The Presentation of Possible Selves in Everyday Life: The Management of Identity Among Transitioning Professional Athletes

Hickey, Colm; Roderick, Martin

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Authors

Colm Hickey



Abstract

In contrast to research, which privileges the notion of an exclusive athletic identity, we argue that the identity management of professional athletes is influenced by the expectations of audiences and the motivational weight of ‘possible selves’ in explaining career transitions from ‘sports work’. Qualitative vignette interviews were conducted with 10 male participants (ages 18-26 years) on three separate occasions (30 interviews). All interviewees had experienced a career transition from Premier League football in the UK. By integrating Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical analogy and Markus and Nurius’s (1986) concept of possible selves we illustrate the way athletes manage their identities in order to explain how understandings of career transitions are linked to social audiences and whether they dramatically realise and legitimise future possible selves.

Citation

Hickey, C., & Roderick, M. (2017). The Presentation of Possible Selves in Everyday Life: The Management of Identity Among Transitioning Professional Athletes. Sociology of Sport Journal, 34(3), 270-280. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2017-0018

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 10, 2017
Online Publication Date May 1, 2017
Publication Date Sep 1, 2017
Deposit Date Jul 6, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Sociology of Sport Journal
Print ISSN 0741-1235
Electronic ISSN 1543-2785
Publisher Human Kinetics
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 34
Issue 3
Pages 270-280
DOI https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2017-0018

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