A badge, a part of my history and also a root: A longitudinal qualitative exploration of the social identity model of identity change in retired elite athletes.

Athlete retirement involves substantial identity changes and psychological challenges. This longitudinal qualitative study explored the experiences of 16 recently retired elite Chinese athletes using the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC). Semi-structured interviews were conducted within 3 months of retirement (T1) and 1 year later (T2), with reflexive thematic analysis applied to examine the dynamic relationship between social identity change and adjustment. Key themes highlighted the processes related to SIMIC in sports retirement: (a) identity loss impacting adaptation to new roles, (b) identity continuity achieved through identity remigration (strengthening connection with past group identity) and identity remooring (forming new identities related to previous ones), (c) challenges and advantages of identity gain, (d) the impact of identity aspiration to gain or maintain group membership and (e) ways in which similarity in group contexts increases group compatibility. Findings revealed that while athletes experienced distress from identity loss at T1, social support from existing group memberships mitigated these effects through identity remigration. By T2, identity continuity and compatibility between old and new group memberships, supported by group context similarity, became critical to adjustment to new roles. These findings extend SIMIC in novel ways and can inform support programmes for retiring athletes.