The chapter discusses the concepts of empathy and compassion, highlighting their psychological and neuroscientific perspectives. Empathy is the ability to infer another person's emotions and mental state, while compassion involves feeling warmth, concern, and a motivation to help others. The text explains that while empathy can lead to empathic distress, which is a negative response to another's suffering, compassion fosters prosocial behavior and positive affect. Scientific research has shown that compassion can be trained through techniques like loving-kindness meditation, which can increase positive emotions and well-being. Neuroscientific studies using fMRI have identified neural networks involved in empathy and compassion, such as the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. These studies also reveal that empathy and compassion training can lead to differential changes in brain networks, with compassion training specifically enhancing positive affect and prosocial behavior. The chapter concludes by discussing the potential for targeted development of adaptive social emotions and the need for further research on the long-term effects and neurobiological mechanisms of these training techniques.The chapter discusses the concepts of empathy and compassion, highlighting their psychological and neuroscientific perspectives. Empathy is the ability to infer another person's emotions and mental state, while compassion involves feeling warmth, concern, and a motivation to help others. The text explains that while empathy can lead to empathic distress, which is a negative response to another's suffering, compassion fosters prosocial behavior and positive affect. Scientific research has shown that compassion can be trained through techniques like loving-kindness meditation, which can increase positive emotions and well-being. Neuroscientific studies using fMRI have identified neural networks involved in empathy and compassion, such as the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. These studies also reveal that empathy and compassion training can lead to differential changes in brain networks, with compassion training specifically enhancing positive affect and prosocial behavior. The chapter concludes by discussing the potential for targeted development of adaptive social emotions and the need for further research on the long-term effects and neurobiological mechanisms of these training techniques.