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An athletic career is a succession of stages and transitions (normative and non-normative), which may have decisive effects on either maintaining a satisfactory and/or successful course or deciding about premature career termination. The main purpose of this study was to identify differences between swimmers (Mage = 21.32, SD = 2.62) who after undergoing the transition from junior to senior level either: (a) continued their career hoping to improve their performance regardless of low success at the elite level&mdash, Group I, or (b) decided on premature athletic career termination&mdash, Group II. The criteria for inclusion included having undergone the transition from junior to senior level and having competed at elite level for at least a year (M = 4.14 years, SD = 1.74). The participants were administered a demographic survey and a structured interview. The results revealed differences in developmental stages. The exploration phase was longer (MGroup I = 5.8 yrs, SD = 2.04, MGroup II = 4.6 yrs, SD = 2.4, Z = &minus, 1.902, p = 0.057), the commitment phase was shorter (MGroup I = 3.6 yrs, SD = 1.3, MGroup II = 4.6 yrs, SD = 1.7, 1.735, p = 0.083), the number of hours of structured practice were (MGroup I = 5975, SD = 2474, MGroup II = 7623, SD = 2660, Z = &minus, 1.928, p = 0.054), the number of perceived costs were (Group I = 22, Group II = 34, 2.209, p = 0.0027), and the most often pointed benefits of a sporting career were (Group I&mdash, 94% health &amp, physical fitness, Group II&mdash, 88% personal growth &amp, life skills). Furthermore, essential inhibitors and facilitators of athletes&rsquo, development were identified. The findings of the study have practical applications for athletes, coaches, parents and sport psychology professionals. For instance, appropriate social support can help to prevent elite athletes&rsquo, premature career termination from professional sport during and after their normative transition from junior to senior level.

The article presents the results of a study focusing on the family situation, education and interpersonal relations of adults (26–35 years old) who in their adolescence (16–19 years old) displayed exceptional giftedness. One group of those surveyed were national academic award winners (90). The control group consisted of 90 people of no outstanding academic achievement. The research found many differences between these two groups, both in the family situation and in interpersonal relations. High achievers were raised in families of higher social and professional status, and almost 72.2% of them decided to continue their academic career after they had graduated from university. The national academic award winners showed higher scores in shyness and lower scores in sociability in interpersonal relations.

This article focuses on the problems of adults who in secondary school were high ability learners. The main point of interest of the research presented here is job satisfaction among gifted people and their temperament structure. The authors are interested whether there exist correlations between the investigated variables both in the entire group of gifted individuals as well as in the subgroup of those gifted in the humanities and in the control group. The research results show that between the group of gifted people and the control group there appear significant differences in vigorousness (VG) and activity (AC). The studied groups differ as to the kind and extent of the fulfilment of expectations concerning professional career. Gifted individuals, in comparison to the control group, are more satisfied with their jobs.