What does sport psychology have to offer interpreting?

incl. ref.

Sports psychology has a great deal of potential for interpreting and interpreter training, as stress seems to be one of the major psychological factors influencing an interpreter's professional behaviour. A competitive sports situation is similar to an interpreting assignment, as both are characterized by the need of the performers, the athlete or the interpreter to achieve. They cannot escape from the situation, and they need to achieve what they have undertaken to do. Their performance on the day depends on external and internal factors that they need to control efficiently. Stress is and has for some time been a widely-researched topic in interpreting studies, as it seems to be a fact of life for interpreters. Stress research in interpreting has, however, focused mainly on the external factors influencing an interpreter's performance. This paper presents an outline of sports psychology and reviews the literature on the psychology of stress. It then presents research conducted on stress in the context of interpreting. Finally, it examines how we can help our students cope with stress and control the internal factors influencing their performance as interpreters.