Though turnover researchers have called for a deeper understanding of the temporal and contextualized process of individual voluntary turnover, little empirical progress in this direction has been made. Adopting Price's (1977) dynamic conceptualization of turnover as moving from one social system to another, and drawing upon knowledge across organizational, social psychological and psychological domains, this exploratory thesis uses in-depth topical life histories to examine individual experiences with stay/leave decision processes in their construed context. / Findings challenge longstanding assumptions of linearity and continuity in turnover decision processes, as well as the conventional wisdom that utility-maximizing logic underlies these decisions. The data suggest that the pursuit of context-self congruence is a driving force in stay/leave decision processes, and that self-concept, emotions and psychological states may be under-studied influencers of these decisions. Results further uncover decision process characteristics previously rendered inaccessible to researchers, due to the predominant use of correlational studies in turnover research. These characteristics include: a) pivotal points of transition; b) the story lines that underlie influencing factors; c) the nature and role of context; and d) the consequences of engaging in these decision processes, for participants and for their workplaces, regardless of the outcome. / This idiographic study, using a purposive sample from a single population of Quebec physicians, is intended to provide turnover researchers with a starting point for cross-group retrospective and longitudinal comparisons. It also aims to stimulate hypothesis generation that accounts for time and the contextual conditions under which particular factors are likely to affect the turnover decision. From a practical viewpoint, this thesis begins to answer the call from Canadian and Quebec Health Care Human Resource specialists for a deeper understanding of the psychosocial aspects of Canadian healthcare worker turnover and retention (British Columbia Office of the Auditor General, 2004; Dubois & Dussault, 2002).

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Thesis (PhD (Sport Science))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study was designed to gain a better understanding of the way in which the quality of the sport-career termination is quantitatively affected by athletic and non-athletic factors. A further objective of this study was to contribute and broaden the knowledge base on the athletic careertermination process and endeavour to add new information to the existent body of knowledge on the career-ending process in the world of sport. This study is a sport-specific view on South African track and field and road running athletes’ retrospective views on their retirement. In line with the relevant literature, the influence of athletic (voluntariness and gradualness of sport-career termination, subjective view of athletic achievements, postsport life planning, and athletic identity) and non-athletic factors (e.g., age, educational status) on different aspects of sport-career difficulties was investigated. In phase 1 of the research, 104 retired track and field athletes completed an adapted version of the Cecic-Erpic’s (2000) Sports Career Termination Questionnaire II (SCTQ II). These athletes had been retired for no less than one year with an athletic career at national and international level and were asked to describe in retrospect their experiences and reactions to their athletic career termination. The SCTQII was developed to evaluate the characteristics of the sport-career termination process, the characteristics of the active sport-careertermination transition to post-sport life, and adaptation to post-sport life. In phase 2 of the study, 23 retired South African elite athletes were individually interviewed. An interview guide was developed which probed the sport career of the athletes in depth, from the initial start to the sport career to the process of disengaging from elite sport. The data from the interviews were content analysed.

Over the last three decades, the sports research community has demonstrated a growing interest in the process of sport retirement. The majority of the sport retirement research has focused on male professional athletes, traditionally those in the popular spectator sports. Yet, the process of leaving sport applies to thousands of individuals, both male and female, who engage in competitive sport. To date very little consideration has been given to the retirement experiences of female athletes. Three separate studies have been undertaken to address this identified gap in the literature. Studies One and Two aimed to explore the experiences of sport retirement for elite female athletes in Scotland, using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In Study One questionnaire data was collected from 92 former Scottish elite female athletes. Questionnaire sections were designed to examine what were felt to be the major elements of the Taylor and Ogilvie (1994; 2001) conceptual model of adaptation to retirement from sport, in order to explore the applicability of this model to female athletes in Scotland. The results of the study provide support for the use of this model to assist in our understanding of the retirement transition. The findings highlighted the importance of athletic identity, reason for retirement, and perceptions of control in predicting the level of difficulty and adjustment that an athlete may experience upon their retirement. The most significant finding was the effect that athletic identity had on the retirement process, with those identifying strongly with the athletic role reporting significantly higher levels of difficulty, emotional adjustment, and social adjustment. 29 of these athletes participated in an in-depth interview within Study Two, enabling a more in-depth analysis of their retirement experiences. In this study particular attention was paid to the effect of athletic identity on this transition. In support of the findings of Study One, athletes with a strong and exclusive athletic identity were found to be more likely to experience difficulties when they retire. In comparison, athletes with lower levels of athletic identity generally experience some mild negative emotions after initially retiring, followed by a relatively smooth transition into their life after sport. The second part of this thesis examines formal programmes available to support female athletic retirement in Scotland. Study Three provides an evaluation of the Performance Lifestyle programme offered by the Scottish Institute of Sport, focusing in particular on the services related to preparation for life after sport. The perspectives of a number of different groups with an interest or involvement in the programme were examined and comparisons made with the delivery of Performance Lifestyle to other athlete groups in Great Britain. The results show that Performance Lifestyle is a very valuable source of support for athletes who are part of the Institute Network. The programme does deal with the issue of the end of the career, but it is definitely a weaker aspect, largely due to lack of resources. Performance Lifestyle in Scotland compares favourably with programmes offered by the Institute Network in England and by Welsh Rugby. However other professional sports are currently offering superior programmes due to higher levels of investment and resources.