Navigating Involuntary Career Changes: Emotional Dynamics During Work-Related Identity Loss and Recovery

Using a qualitative longitudinal design, we investigated the emotional and identity processes during involuntary career change due to job loss or health issues. Twelve career changers were interviewed twice at a 1-year interval. Findings revealed the complex interplay between two retrospective and proactive processes, namely, loss and restoration orientations, as career changers simultaneously construct a valid narrative about their loss and reestablish a new work-related identity. Processes relating to narrative identity, emotions, strategies, and social enactment were found to underlie the loss and recovery identity process. Emotions acted as signals of the identity loss and recovery process and drivers of the career change process. Overall, our study unravels the interplay between emotions, identity, and adaptation processes during challenging career transitions and sheds light on the heterogeneous responses to career disruptions, raising practical implications for guidance and counseling.