The primary objective of this thesis is to examine how culture within the context of Scandinavian elite sport influences talent development in terms of athletes` social learning and relationships along their developmental pathways and in their developmental environments; and secondary to provide guiding principles that may stimulate `cultural competence` (i.e. cultural awareness and cultural knowledge) in elite sport practitioners working with talent development. Talent as a research field is traditionally approached from a research tradition with roots in sport psychology and education. This thesis employs an interdisciplinary approach to talent development. Previous research indicates three related, but different approaches to talent development that together illustrate a chronological evolution in the literature, going from the biological and psychological view of the individual athlete towards a socio-ecological view of his or her developmental context. This thesis acknowledges an integrated understanding of these three research perspectives as three inherent dimensions of talent development, which are inseparable in practice. But analytically the totality may be separated. Talent development is examined as a social practice embedded in specific cultures. The research project is based on two sets of empirical material: semi-structured in-depth interviews with 17 elite Danish athletes from various sports, and of field work (participant observation and interviews) in two exceptionally successful environments for handball. On the basis of a combination of the concept of culture (Schein, 2010) and the social theory of learning (Wenger, 1998), analysis revealed different types of developmental pathways, influential relationships, and environments that are equally successful in developing elite adult athletes from among their juniors, yet in different ways. The thesis discusses `talent development coloured by culture`, `typologies of talent development`, and `strengths and limitations`. The thesis suggests concrete, empirical context-dependent typologies as a way of reflecting upon and discussing features of successful developmental pathways and environments within and across specific cultures. It thereby contributes to the cultural turn in sport psychology that challenges the universalism operating in the field of sport psychological research. In regard to applied practice the thesis may inspire practitioners to become aware of their own and others` cultures and how these cultures influence talent development. The cultural look at talent development enables one to see various roads to the elite and several types of environments in which elite standing can be achieved. The interdisciplinary and cultural approach to talent development should be employed in future research in order to reveal what characterises great talent development within specific cultural contexts. Research should look more into diversity in regard to developmental pathways and talent development environments.
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