Athlete Identity: What Is It?
It’s been a while since athlete identity has been explored on this blog. The last time we explored athlete identity, it was through the lens of development. Now we come back to it to explore the topic in a more general way and to set us up for a subsequent blog post about athlete retirement. So without further ado, let’s dive into identity. Yes, identity. We have to start there before we talk about athlete identity.
Identity
As a working definition, identity is the amalgamation of memories, experiences, relationships, and values that a person uses to help define a sense of self. New experiences and facets can be incorporated through time. Remember, no definition is perfect and researchers are always learning more. For now, this definition will serve our purpose. Let’s begin by highlighting a couple key points from this definition. First, there is an amalgamation of different things (i.e. memories, experiences, etc.) that go into creating a sense of identity. It isn’t just one defining event or attribute. So, what can we take from this? Because identity is an amalgamation, identity can get heavily reinforced over time with the addition of many more experiences, etc. Second, given that new experiences and facets can be added through time, that means that identity can shift and evolve. Identity is not static, thankfully in this case. Keep these ideas in mind as we continue into talking about athlete identity.
Athlete Identity
Athlete identity is the degree to which a person defines themself by their role as an athlete, integrating it into their self-concept. One way to measure the degree is via the Athletic Identity Scale (AIMS) (Lochbaum et al., 2022; Lochbaum et al., 2025). Yes, science and research strikes again! While we will be necessarily discussing the research and science behind the scale, the scale does give us a place from which to launch our discussion. The AIMS-3G (Lochbaum et al., 2022; Lochbaum et al., 2025) identifies 4 factors. And, in case you are curious, the “3G” stands for 3rd generation. These 4 factors include:
Prominence
The degree to which being an athlete is central to a person’s life.
Self-Worth Contingency
The degree to which a person’s self-esteem is tied to their athletic performance.
Self-Presentation
The degree to which a person actively presents themselves to others as an athlete.
Social Reinforcement
The degree to which a person's identity is supported by significant others (friends, family).
When reviewing these four factors, the word pervasive may come to mind because there are so many different opportunities for the athlete identity to be reinforced, internally and externally. When someone highly identifies with their athlete identity, there are both positive and negative impacts. In general, a high degree fosters discipline, confidence, and goal-setting, when an athlete's identity becomes exclusively strong may lead to anxiety, burnout, or difficulty transitioning out of sports for retirement.
Dive Into the Benefits and Challenges of Athlete Identity
It is worth diving more into understanding the benefits and challenges associated with athlete identity because it is actually nuanced in terms of many aspects. Today we will look at some of the benefits and challenges. Athletic identity plays a role in predicting hypercompetitive attitudes (Albouza et al., 2022). Hypercompetitiveness is the intense, often unhealthy, need to compete and win at all costs to maintain one’s self-worth. Sounds pretty straightforward, yes? While, frequently, nothing in research, science, or life is this simple. Sometimes it can be, but not this time. Here is where it gets interesting. According to the same study athlete identity indirectly predicted hypercompetitive attitudes via values and self-regulatory efficacy. So, now we have additional factors or concepts to consider. Does an athlete value winning or fairness, for example? While contemplating this, keep in mind that self-regulatory efficacy is the confidence people have in their ability to manage, monitor, and control their own behavior, emotions, and thoughts to achieve goals or overcome obstacles. To make matters even more complex, athlete identity indirectly predicted self-regulatory efficacy via athletes’ values. And in case you were wondering, it is even more complex. It is self-regulation efficacy that manages the impact of athletes’ values on hypercompetitive attitudes. So now, what does all this mean, besides that this is a complex topic? First, there are factors that interact with athlete identity directly and indirectly. And second, there are many avenues from which to work with athlete identity. That can be good news for athletes and those that support athletes.
And in case you are curious if there are other ways to explore identity, the answer is yes. In a previous post, there was a discussion about athlete identity and development. We will revisit this briefly. In a study conducted with youth they found that athletic identity varies by race/ethnicity and that athletic identity at higher levels could protect against burnout, but that for injured athletes the risk of depression increased (Edison et al., 2021). Jumping to adults, in an investigation looking at psychological flexibility as a potential moderator of athlete identity and burnout, Chang et al. (2018) found that athlete identity didn’t account for changes in emotional exhaustion independently and that psychological flexibility actually moderates the connection between athlete identity and emotional exhaustion over time. Across the lifespan, the role and impact of athlete identity can change and serve different purposes. Additionally, it also means that we must consider different aspects of concepts. Taking the study just discussed by Change et al. (2018), it was the psychological flexibility aspect that was impacted, which is a factor that influences burnout. Let’s consider the developmental perspective for a minute. If we work with youth athletes on developing psychological flexibility, we may be able to help address concerns ahead of time, before they develop.
Balanced Identity
One final thought to consider for the moment is the development of a balanced identity. When the athlete identity holds a prominent position, it may hinder athletes from exploring other dimensions of their identity and potentially lead to neglecting other aspects of their life (Chun et al., 2023). To develop a balanced identity, it is important to diverse interests outside of one’s chosen sport, focus on integrating a focus on personal growth rather than just performance outcomes, build strong social connections to friends and family, and while pursuing athletic goals with dedication and high effort remembering that self-worth is not tied solely to performance.
A person wearing a white jacket with a blue pattern on the sleeve. They have rings on their middle and pointer fingers. Their hand is covering the lower part of their face.
take action today moment:
Take some time to explore your own identity. If you were to map out on a piece of paper, how much of you identities with being an athlete, a parent/caregiver, professional, etc. It might be enlightening. Once you know you can decide if you the balance you would like or if you need take steps to find more balance.
References
Albouza, Y., Chazaud, P., & Wach, M. (2022). Athletic identity, values and self-regulatory efficacy governing hypercompetitive attitudes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 58, 102079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102079
Chang, W. H., Wu, C. H., Kuo, C. C., & Chen, L. H. (2018). The role of athletic identity in the development of athlete burnout: The moderating role of psychological flexibility. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 39, 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.07.014
Chun, Y., Wendling, E., & Sagas, M. (2023). Identity work in athletes: A systematic review of the literature. Sports, 11(10), 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports11100203
Edison, B. R., Christino, M. A., & Rizzone, K. H. (2021). Athletic identity in youth athletes: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14), 7331. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147331
Lochbaum, M., Cooper, S., & Limp, S. (2022). The Athletic Identity Measurement Scale: A systematic review with meta-analysis from 1993 to 2021. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(9), 1391-1414. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe12090097
Lochbaum, M., Paliulyte, D., Yehle, K., Perez-Altenhoff, S., & Wells, H. (2025). The Athletic Identity Measurement Scale-3rd Generation (AIMS-3G) reliabilities and factor structures in competing athletes. Youth, 5(4), 133. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5040133