Drawing on research from psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience, I will offer a discussion of two types of empathy: cognitive empathy and affective empathy. Their relevance to a specific aspect of the translation process - target audience orientation - will be explored and ways will be suggested to empirically study empathy’s impact on translators’ behavior. The data collection methods discussed will include administration of a validated self-report questionnaire that accesses both dimensions of empathy. My contribution will also address empathy’s relation to other factors mentioned in the first circular for this workshop and establish links to previous research on translators’ and interpreters’ personality traits.