Narrative Tensions in Strained Junior Elite Performers’ Experiences of Becoming Elite Performers

Contextualized within narrative theory and the field of talent identification and development systems (TIDS), this interview study examined strained junior elite performers’ experiences of becoming elite performers while participating in prestigious national TIDS. The study explored how junior elite performers perceive and negotiate their personal narratives of becoming within a cultural master narrative of being. The focus is on how the quality of person-environment interaction, characterized by narrative alignment or tensions, relates to perceptions of identity, agency, and physical and mental health. We purposefully recruited eight participants (Mage = 17.31, SD = 0.9) from a previously …