Abstract
This study explored NCAA division I student-athlete football player's vocational identity as a function of their athletic identity and social support systems in two levels, frequency and satisfaction. The study sought to determine if a highly salient athletic identity affected the development of a vocational identity, and whether social support factors played a role in their vocational identity development as well. Erikson's fifth stage of development suggests a period in which individuals begin to develop an individual identity separate from their family of origin and heavily influenced by peers and causes. Furthermore, ecological models posit identity development as a convoluted process influenced by interactions between the individual, family, friends, and other influential causes or aspects of one's life. Participants in the study included 230 male collegiate football players from three division I programs that compete in the Mountain West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and Conference USA. Participants were gathered at specialized team meetings for the study and completed a questionnaire packet that included the Vocational Identity (VI) scale of the My Vocational Situation (MVS), the 7-item version of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), and the Multidimensional Support Scale. Results of the study indicated that the athletic identity and social support frequency and satisfaction of student-athletes competing in division I football were not predictors of their vocational identity. Implications for future research may suggest the usage of less transparent measures/scales of perceived deficits in vocational identity to avoid the participants over-reporting vocational identity.