Professional athletes are faced with many stressful situations at their work. Their work is specific, varied, but extremely demanding. In the research we wanted to find out whether there are differences in experiencing stress among professional athletes in team and individual sports. We were also interested in whether these groups differ in experiencing flow at work and whether there is a potential connection between experiencing stress and flow at work. 71 top Slovenian athletes participated, including 32 athletes participating in individual sports and 39 athletes participating in group sports. Using the Work Stress Assessment Scale (EAE – D), Life Stress Assessment Scale (EAE – Ž) and The Work – related Flow Inventory (WOLF), we found that there are no statistically significant differences in life stress in general between groups. Similarly, the groups do not differ in experiencing flow at work, while there are statistically significant differences in experiencing stress at the workplace. The findings suggest that athletes in group sports experience more stressful events than athletes in individual sports. However, another interested fact is to be highlighted – statistically significant differences occur only in the number of stressful events, but not in the strength of them. It is also interesting to note that there are no strong links between the various dimensions of stress at work or in life in general and flow at work. There is only one significant connection between stress and flow. Although this type of research is one of the few that explores this particular group, the results are quite reasonable. Participants in group sports are faced with a greater number of stressors that are indirectly related to the competition than athletes in individual sports.
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