Gender similarities and differences in selected personality characteristics of (future) interpreters

Abstract

The paper presents the results of research on  the selected personality characteristics of professional interpreters and interpreting students, with a specific focus on gender differences. The characteristics studied were anxiety (measured by STAI) and achievement motivation (measured by AMI). The results of our research show that women (n=33) are characterized by higher anxiety compared to men (n=10). Regarding motivation, women (n=31) in our research were also characterized by statistically significant higher pride in productivity, status orientation, and competitiveness compared to men (n=10). However, these differences in personality characteristics do not cause significant differences in interpreting performance between men and women.