Cover not available

Article published In: Translation, Cognition & Behavior
Vol. 1:2 (2018) ► pp.341–360

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Can self-esteem and creative intelligence foster accuracy and creativity in professional translators?

 | Universidad de Murcia
 | Universidad de Murcia
Published online: 27 September 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.00015.cif
Abstract
Over this last decade translation process research has provided evidence for the importance of studying translators and interpreters’ individual differences so as to gain a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in translation and the potential impact of the translator’s personality and emotions on translation performance. Drawing on previous research on the impact of self-esteem and creativity on translation, the present paper describes an experiment to measure the effect of self-esteem and creative intelligence on the written translation performance of a sample of 44 Spanish professional translators. The results reveal that (a) the more creative translators are, the more creative translations they produce; and (b) the higher translators’ self-esteem is, the lower the scores for accuracy.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The role of self-esteem in translation studies
  • 3.The role of creativity in translation studies
  • 4.The study
    • 4.1Research questions and hypotheses
    • 4.2Participants, materials and methods
    • 4.3Analysis of results
      • 4.3.1Hypothesis 1
      • 4.3.2Hypothesis 2
      • 4.3.3Hypothesis 3
      • 4.3.4Hypothesis 4
      • 4.3.5Hypothesis 5
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (46)
References
Batey, Mark, and Adrian Furnham. 2006. “Creativity, Intelligence, and Personality: A Critical Review of the Scattered Literature.” Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 132(4): 355–429. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baumeister, Roy F., Jennifer D. Campbell, Joachim I. Krueger, and Kathleen D. Vohs. 2003. “Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 4 (1): 1–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bayer-Hohenwarter, Gerrit. 2009. “Translational Creativity: How to Measure the Unmeasurable.” In Behind the Mind. Edited by S. Göpferich, A. L. Jakobsen and I. Mees, 39–59. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. “Comparing Translational Creativity Scores of Student and Professionals: Flexible Problem-solving and/or Fluent Routine Behaviour?” In New Approaches in Translation Process Research. Edited by S. Göpferich, F. Alves, and I. Mees, 83–111. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011: “‘Creative Shifts’ as a Means of Measuring and Promoting Creativity.” Meta 56 (3): 663–692. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Translatorische Kreativität: Definition, Messung, Entwicklung [Creativity in translation: Definition, measurement, development]. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bolaños Medina, Alicia. 2014. “La investigación de las diferencias individuales en traductología cognitiva.” [Researching individual differences in cognitive translation studies]. TRANS 181: 199–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bontempo, Karen, and Jemina Napier. 2014. “Evaluating Emotional Stability as a Predictor of Interpreter Competence and Aptitude for Interpreting.” In Aptitude for Interpreting. Edited by F. Pöchhacker, and M. Liu, 87–106. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bontempo, Karen, Jemina Napier, Laurence Hayes, and Vicki Brashear. 2014. “Personality Matters: An International Study of Sign Language Interpreter Disposition.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 6 (1): 23–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Jonathon D. 1993. “Self-esteem and Self-evaluation: Feeling is Believing.” In Psychological perspectives on the self (4). Edited by J. Suls, 27–58. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Jonathon D., and Keith A. Dutton. 1995. “The Thrill of Victory, the Complexity of Defeat: Self-esteem and People’s Emotional Reactions to Success and Failure.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 681: 712–722. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Jonathon D., and Margaret A. Marshall. 2001. “Self-Esteem and Emotion: Some Thoughts about Feelings.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27 (5): 575–584. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. “The Three Faces of Self-esteem.” In Self-esteem: Issues and answers. Edited by M. Kernis, 4–9. New York: Psychology Press. Available at [URL]
Cifuentes-Férez, Paula, and Javier Fenollar Cortés. 2017. “On the Impact of Self-esteem, Emotion Regulation and Emotional Expressivity on Student Translators’ Performance.” Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 141: 71–97.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coopersmith, Stanley. 1967. The Antecedents of Self-Esteem. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corbalán Berna, Javier, Fermín Martínez Zaragoza, Danilo Donolo, Carlos Alonso Monreal, María Tejerina Arreal, and Rosa Ma Limiñana Gras. 2003: CREA. Inteligencia Creativa. Una medida cognitiva de la creatividad [CREA. Creative intelligence. A cognitive measure of creativity]. Madrid: TEA Ediciones.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Damasio, Antonio. 1994. Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain. New York: Avon Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Di Paula, Adam, and Jennifer D. Campbell. 2002. “Self-esteem and Persistence in the Face of Failure.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 831: 711–724. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Epstein, Seymour. 1980. “The self-concept: A review and the proposal of an integrated theory of personality.” In Personality: Basic Issues and Current Research. Edited by E. Staub, 82‒132. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldsmith, Ronald E., and Timothy A. Matherly. 2012. “Creativity and self-esteem: A multiple operationalization validity study.” Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied 122 (1): 47–52. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guilford, Joy Paul. 1950. “Creativity.” American Psychologist 5 (9): 444–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harter, Susan. 1986. “Processes Underlying the Construction, Maintenance, and Enhancement of the Self-concept in Children.” In Psychological Perspectives on the Self. Edited by J. Suls and A. G. Greenwald, 137–181. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hubscher-Davidson, Séverine. 2007. An Empirical Investigation into the Effects of Personality on the Performance of French to English Student Translators. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Bath.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hubscher-Davidson, Severine. 2009. “Personal Diversity and Diverse Personalities in Translation: A Study of Individual Differences.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 17 (3): 175–192. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2018. Translation and Emotion: A Psychological Perspective. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaquish, Gale A., and R. E. Ripple. 1981. “Cognitive Creative Abilities and Self-Esteem across the Adult Life-Span.” Human Development 24 (2): 110–119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kußmaul, Paul. 2007. Kreatives Übersetzen: Studien zur Translation [Creative translation: Studies on translation]. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lehr, Caroline. 2013. “Influences of Emotion on Cognitive Processing in Translation: A Framework and some Empirical Evidence.” Paper presented at the International Online Workshop on Affective factors in Translation Process Research: To Feel or not to Feel? That is the Question . Aston University.
Martín-Albo, José, Juan L. Núñez, José G. Navarro, and Fernando Grijalvo. 2007. “The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Translation and Validation in University Students”. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 10 (2): 458–467. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo, ed. 2016. Reembedding Translation Process Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orth, Ulrich, and Richard W. Robbins. 2014. “The Development of Self-esteem.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 23 (5): 381–387. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, Carol. 2013. “Creativity.” In The Handbook of Translation Studies, Vol. 41. Edited by Y. Gambier and L. Van Doorslaer, 42–46. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pratchett, Terry. 1991. Witches Abroad. London: Corgi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rojo López, Ana Mª. 2017. “The Role of Creativity.” In The Handbook of Translation and Cognition. Edited by J. W. Schwieter, and A. Ferreira, 350–368. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rojo López, Ana Mª., and Marina Ramos Caro. 2016. “Can Emotion Stir Translation Skill? Defining the Impact of Positive and Negative Emotions on Translation Performance.” In Reembedding Translation Process Research. Edited by R. Muñoz, 107–130. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2018. “The Role of Expertise in Emotion Regulation: Exploring the Effect of Expertise on Translation Performance under Emotional Stir.” In Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research. Edited by I. Lacruz and R. Jääskeläinen, 105–129. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rojo López, Ana Mª., and Purificación Meseguer Cutillas. 2018. “Creativity and Translation Quality: Opposing Enemies or Friendly Allies?” In Expertise and Behaviour. Aspects of Cognitive Translation Studies. Guest-edited by P. Klimant, M. Tieber, and H. Risku. Special issue of Hermes 571: 79–96..Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Morris. 1965. Society and the Adolescent Self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwieter, John W., and Aline Ferreira, eds. 2017. The Handbook of Translation and Cognition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sommer, Kristin L., and Roy F. Baumeister. 2002. “Self-Evaluation, Persistence, and Performance Following Implicit Rejection: The Role of Trait Self-Esteem.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28 (7): 926–938. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torrance, Ellis P. 1974. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-TTCT Manual and Scoring Guide: Verbal Test A, Figural Test. Lexington, KY: Ginn.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1998. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Norms-Technical Manual Figural (Streamlined) Forms A & B. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Walker Russ, Sandra. 1993. Affect and Creativity. The Role of Affect and Play in the Creative Process. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Watson, David, and Lee Anna, Clark. 1984. “Negative Affectivity: The Disposition to Experience Aversive Emotional States.” Psychological Bulletin 961: 465–490. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Ameri, Saeed & Pouria Sadrnia
2025. Examining the interplay between translation students’ grit, self-efficacy and academic achievement. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation / Revista Internacional de Traducción 71:5 ► pp. 599 ff. DOI logo
Cifuentes-Férez, Paula & Carmen María Pina Cárceles
2025. Personalidad y carga emotiva en la traducción de testimonios de cáncer de mama. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura 30:1 DOI logo
Kodura, Małgorzata
2024. Rozwijanie kreatywności studentów na zajęciach z przekładu w epoce sztucznej inteligencji . Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium 9:1 ► pp. 274 ff. DOI logo
Cásedas, Luis, María J. Funes, Marc Ouellet & Mercedes García de Quesada
2023. Training transversal competences in a bachelor’s degree in translation and interpreting: preliminary evidence from a clinical trial. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 17:2 ► pp. 193 ff. DOI logo
Naranjo, Beatriz
2022. (Mis)translating Sensitive Content. Translation Spaces 11:2 ► pp. 234 ff. DOI logo
Hubscher-Davidson, Séverine & Caroline Lehr
2021. An Interdisciplinary Framework. In Improving the Emotional Intelligence of Translators, ► pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
Kimovska, Sonja K. & Vladimir Cvetkoski
2021. The Effect of Emotions on Translations Performance. Research in Language 19:2 ► pp. 169 ff. DOI logo
Rojo López, Ana María & Beatriz Naranjo
2021. Translating in times of crisis: A study about the emotional effects of the COVID19 pandemic on the translation of evaluative language. Journal of Pragmatics 176 ► pp. 29 ff. DOI logo
Rojo López, Ana Mª, Paula Cifuentes Férez, Laura Espín López & Joydeep Bhattacharya
2021. The influence of time pressure on translation trainees’ performance: Testing the relationship between self-esteem, salivary cortisol and subjective stress response. PLOS ONE 16:9 ► pp. e0257727 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue