Building on the premise that translation and translator studies can benefit from the concepts of personality psychology, and within a descriptive framework, this study investigated the factors and facets of emotional intelligence (EI) manifested in self-reported material from a purposive sample of Iranian prominent literary translators (n=12). Next, the more frequently observed EI factors and facets were compared and contrasted between the male (n=6) and female (n=6) translators. To create the required corpus, the study drew on the secondary data obtained from numerous published extended interviews and a few autobiographies. The collected data was thematically analyzed and the frequency of indications to any facets of EI were calculated. To improve trustworthiness, the analysis of two other researchers in the field were benefited on a random select segments of the data and negotiations were made to achieve intersubjectivity. According to the results, the average frequency for each main dimension ranged from 7 to 12 per factor. The average frequency for the groups of men and women were as in the following: As for women, sociability ranked first; self-control, second; emotionality, third; and well-being as the least observed factor. As for men, well-being, ranked first; sociability, second; self-control, third; and emotionality was the least observed factor. The various facets of the factors, however, seemed to be more diversely evident and more variously manifest as revealed by the frequency of indications to each ranging from 3 to 22. The results revealed that self-esteem was the most frequently observed facet of the translators both for men and women, however the difference between the two groups were brought to the fore in terms of all the other facets. The findings of the study reveal the EI factors are evidently more manifest in the select female celebrated translators. Although context-bound and limited as a qualitative study, within a text-oriented, descriptive paradigm, the study highlights an initial attempt to explore the state of EI of noted Iranian literary translators across genders, the implications of which will be discussed.

Keywords