Abstract
The purposes of this study were to analyze the process of ego identity reconfirmation in the athletic retirement, to identify the roles of anticipatory socialization and time perspective in the process, and to examine the effect of retiring experience for the middle-age crisis. Subjects were two former Olympians who had experienced the middle-age crisis. Several semi-structured interviews were done to each of them. The following 3 points were suggested. 1) Four stages were found in the process of ego identity reconfirmation in the athletic retirement; I: the onset of taking account of his/her athletic retirement, II: reconsideration of his/her life as an athlete and choosing his/her course toward athletic retirement, III: transition from athletic activity, : active commitment into his/her workplace. 2) Anticipatory socialization encouraged to transfer to the next stage of life, and time perspective was a major indicator for the degree of resolution of the developmental tasks in ego identity reconfirmation. 3) Unresolved tasks with ego identity reconfirmation on the athletic retirement were brought up again in middle age
