KMAN Publication Inc. (KMANPUB) Journal of Assessment and Research in Applied Counseling (JARAC) In Press 2026 10 01 The Psychology of Uncertainty: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity Reconstruction During Major Life Transitions The Psychology of Uncertainty: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity Reconstruction During Major Life Transitions 1 21 EN Journal Article 2026 05 11 <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p><strong>Objective:</strong> This study aimed to explore and interpret the lived experiences of uncertainty and the processes through which adults reconstruct their identities during major life transitions.</p> <p><strong>Methods and Materials:</strong> This qualitative study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants were 18 adults residing in Tehran, Iran, who had experienced a significant life transition within approximately six months to three years before participation. Participants were selected through purposive sampling to ensure direct experience of identity-relevant transitions, including divorce, occupational change, relocation, educational transition, marriage, and changes in family or social roles. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60–90 minutes. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the systematic stages of IPA, including repeated reading, exploratory noting, development of experiential statements, clustering of related meanings, within-case analysis, and cross-case comparison. Reflexive notes, an audit trail, and repeated checking of themes against original transcripts were used to enhance analytic rigor.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> Analysis generated five interrelated superordinate themes: the collapse of assumed continuity, living in an uncertain and suspended self, identity negotiation through relationships and social recognition, reclaiming agency through meaning-making, and the emergence of a reconstructed but unfinished identity. The findings indicated that major life transitions disrupted participants’ established self-narratives and identity anchors, creating a liminal state between former and emerging identities. Identity reconstruction was facilitated by reinterpretation of the transition, re-evaluation of personal values, experimentation with new roles, and supportive social recognition. Greater adaptation was characterized not by elimination of uncertainty, but by increased tolerance of ambiguity and a more flexible, revisable understanding of selfhood.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Identity reconstruction during major life transitions appears to be a dynamic and recursive process in which uncertainty initially destabilizes self-continuity but can subsequently promote reflection, agency, and the development of a more flexible identity capable of integrating both continuity and change.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> https://journals.kmanpub.com/index.php/jarac/article/download/5963/11404