TRANSLATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS: A CASE STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF MBTI TESTS

Abstract

As a field of study, psychology has been a significant part of human life for decades. Several types of psychological tests have been used in order to understand and assess people’s behavior. Because of their significant roles in identifying the characteristics of human behavior, the need for their translation has also increased to a great extent in recent years. For this reason, in order to provide a functional translation of a psychological test in a different language, it is important to consider the intricacies of translating psychological texts, including linguistic and cultural differences between languages. For this purpose, this study aims to analyze and describe French and Turkish and translations of a certain type of MBTI test written in English. With the aim of identifying and explaining the differences in the source and target texts, the study benefits from J.C. Catford’s model of translation shifts. As a result of a detailed analysis of the source and target texts, it is found out that French and Turkish translations of the specific psychological test cause both semantic and stylistic shifts. Apart from these translation shifts, it is seen that the translators have omitted some parts both in French and Turkish translations.