A promising career? The thriving transition cycle

This study was conducted with 24 young, male, elite athletes who were required to relocate to take up their football playing contracts. It examined the personal characteristics and processes of thriving during a geographically dislocating transition and broadened the traditional vulnerability and coping focus of transition research to one that incorporates positive learning and growth. A partially mixed, sequential design was employed, firstly to identify the features of the participant group. Despite their homogeneity on a range of instruments, the outcome variations were not adequately explained. Subsequently, the particular characteristics and processes that contribute to thriving were examined using a series of semi-structured interviews. From the results, a comprehensive analysis identified a group of 16 characteristics and associated processes. Based on the variations, the participants clustered in one of three categories; those who were thriving, surviving or languishing. Thriving was further examined in relation to a theoretical framework of transition as a cyclic, staged process where the trajectories of passages and adjustment strategies exert a significant influence on the outcomes. This study has important implications for the design of strategies to improve outcomes of those facing dislocating, challenging transitions.