ABSTRACT
The concept of social role has always been prominent in the evolution of community interpreting research, the role-theoretical approach is somewhat new in investigations into conference interpreting. Conference interpreting, and in particular, the simultaneous mode, first attracted experimental psychologists, who were primarily interested in the cognitive and psychological processes involved in simultaneous interpreting. This chapter presents some selected findings which directly relate to the conference interpreter's social position and the position field into which it is embedded. It observes the degree of importance professionals attach to their own social position and to the feedback they receive from the various groups and individuals related to it and how satisfied they are with the position they occupy. The chapter aims to explore how important professionals from various associations, situated both at a national and an international level, perceive their social position and how satisfied they are with it.
