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Translating in the zone

The joint impact of positive emotions and flow on behavioral and cognitive dynamics in translation

ORCiD logo with link | South China University of Technology | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ORCiD logo with link | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ORCiD logo with link | South China University of Technology
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Abstract
This study investigates how positive emotions and flow interact to influence translators’ cognitive processing patterns. Thirty-two translators completed two Chinese–English translation tasks following positive or neutral emotional priming, with their eye movements recorded throughout. While positive emotional priming did not significantly elevate overall flow scores, it correlated with key flow dimensions, including action-awareness merging and autotelic experience. Crucially, positive emotions and flow demonstrated synergistic effects on cognitive processing: their interaction enhanced processing efficiency, reduced cognitive effort, and tended to promote a more balanced attention distribution between source and target texts. The analyses further suggested a preliminary broaden-and-build effect, manifested in increasingly balanced attention allocation and enhanced parallel processing across tasks. By delineating how positive emotions and flow jointly shape translators’ behavioral and cognitive responses, this study refines process-oriented accounts of emotion and flow in translation and informs the design of workflows and training that more effectively support translators’ working states.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research background
    • 2.1Positive emotions and flow in cognitive activities
    • 2.2Positive emotions and flow in translation
    • 2.3Operationalizing behavioral and cognitive dynamics in translation via eye-tracking measures
  • 3.The present study
    • 3.1Aims and hypotheses
    • 3.2Participants
    • 3.3Emotional stimuli
    • 3.4Source texts
    • 3.5Procedures and setup
    • 3.6Eye-tracking data screening
    • 3.7Statistical models and analysis procedures
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Relationship between flow experiences and positive emotions
    • 4.2Interplay between flow experiences and stimulus type in the translation process
    • 4.3Interplay between flow experiences and task sequence in the translation process
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Positive emotions are associated with specific flow dimensions
    • 5.2The role of primed positive emotions and flow in enhancing processing efficiency
    • 5.3The role of primed positive emotions and flow in reducing cognitive effort
    • 5.4The role of primed positive emotions and flow in balancing attention allocation between ST and TT
    • 5.5The broaden-and-build potential on cognitive resource allocation and parallel processing
    • 5.6Implications and limitations
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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