Passion transfer in former competitive athletes: The mediating role of the social environment and personal values

Athletes often report being passionate about their sport, but little is known about how their passion evolves after they retire from competitive sports. The Dualistic Model of Passion postulates that harmonious (HP) and obsessive passions (OP) can transfer to another related activity. This cross-sectional study examined two processes (social environment and personal values) through which an old passion for competitive sports transfers to a new related activity and their influence on the type of passion for this new activity. We performed structural equation modeling with former competitive athletes now engaged in coaching (n = 120) or playing recreationally (n = 318). Results revealed that the old HP was positively associated with selecting an autonomy-supportive environment and prosocial values, which, in turn, were positively related to HP for the new activity. Conversely, the old OP was positively related to a controlling environment and proself values, which were positively related to OP for the new activity.