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Empathy is a critical element of subjective well-being and an important personality trait among undergraduate students. To improve empathy among undergraduate students, the current study examined the relationship between self-compassion and empathy and the mediating role of self-esteem in this relationship. Participants were six hundred and twenty-two (320 males and 302 females) students from five Vietnamese universities, aged 18–21 years (M_age = 19.5; SD_age = 0.95 years), who completed the self-compassion scale (SCS), empathy scale in adults (BES-A), and self-esteem scale of Toulouse (ETES). The results indicated that (1) self-compassion was positively associated with empathy; (2) self-esteem mediated the relationship between the two variables. Therefore, enhancing undergraduate students’ self-compassion may be an effective way to improve their empathy. However, additional studies are …