Job loss is a stressful event, partially because of the obvious stress of economic deprivation. However, research shows that job loss also has psychological effects. The impact of losing a job has been investigated in terms of personality (self esteem, mental health, and affective states) and in terms of the transitional stages of reactions to job and career loss over time (grief from the loss and stages of unemployment). Moderating factors have also been identified, such as social support and high activity level. Factors identified as intensifying negative feelings are a high degree of personal involvement with the job and concomitant domestic problems. Critical questions for future research concern elaboration of grief stages as they specifically relate to job loss, the role of social support as a buffer for some of the negative emotional consequences of job loss, and the effectiveness of coping strategies as other moderating factors. (The Index to the College of Administrative Science Reprint and Working Paper Series, The Ohio State University, is printed at the end of the article.) (YLB)