Early Mental Recovery After Job Loss: Uncovering Critical Factors Through a Novel Fuzzy Decision-Making Framework

In corporate life, job loss is a multidimensional crisis that not only threatens individuals’ economic security but also profoundly shakes psychological balance, sense of identity, and future expectations. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that most significantly impact the early mental recovery process after job loss in corporate life and to develop an integrated decision-making model to guide decision-makers based on these factors. In this study, a total of 17 criteria are first identified through a literature review. Then, the N-gram technique is used to identify the seven most important criteria according to their frequency of use. Opinions are obtained from 12 academics and field professionals who are experts in the field; these opinions are weighted using the Z-score-based normalized ideal distance method to account for demographic differences. Criteria importance levels are then calculated using the SIWEC (simple weight calculation) method. This study contributes significantly to the literature by (1) systematically prioritizing the most critical factors affecting early mental recovery with a holistic approach, (2) minimizing the uncertainty and subjective judgment problems in expert opinions by developing behavioral leadership fuzzy set structures, and (3) increasing the objectivity and accuracy of the model by reducing the number of criteria based on a scientific basis using the N-gram technique. The findings indicate that financial security and resilience are the most critical factors in recovery, while self-confidence and access to healthcare are among the other important factors that directly affect the process.