SAC: A Framework for Measuring and Inducing Personality Traits in LLMs with Dynamic Intensity Control

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Autori principali: Chittem, Adithya, Shrivastava, Aishna, Pendela, Sai Tarun, Challa, Jagat Sesh, Kumar, Dhruv
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Chittem, Adithya
Shrivastava, Aishna
Pendela, Sai Tarun
Challa, Jagat Sesh
Kumar, Dhruv
author_facet Chittem, Adithya
Shrivastava, Aishna
Pendela, Sai Tarun
Challa, Jagat Sesh
Kumar, Dhruv
contents Large language models (LLMs) have gained significant traction across a wide range of fields in recent years. There is also a growing expectation for them to display human-like personalities during interactions. To meet this expectation, numerous studies have proposed methods for modelling LLM personalities through psychometric evaluations. However, most existing models face two major limitations: they rely on the Big Five (OCEAN) framework, which only provides coarse personality dimensions, and they lack mechanisms for controlling trait intensity. In this paper, we address this gap by extending the Machine Personality Inventory (MPI), which originally used the Big Five model, to incorporate the 16 Personality Factor (16PF) model, allowing expressive control over sixteen distinct traits. We also developed a structured framework known as Specific Attribute Control (SAC) for evaluating and dynamically inducing trait intensity in LLMs. Our method introduces adjective-based semantic anchoring to guide trait intensity expression and leverages behavioural questions across five intensity factors: \textit{Frequency}, \textit{Depth}, \textit{Threshold}, \textit{Effort}, and \textit{Willingness}. Through experimentation, we find that modelling intensity as a continuous spectrum yields substantially more consistent and controllable personality expression compared to binary trait toggling. Moreover, we observe that changes in target trait intensity systematically influence closely related traits in psychologically coherent directions, suggesting that LLMs internalize multi-dimensional personality structures rather than treating traits in isolation. Our work opens new pathways for controlled and nuanced human-machine interactions in domains such as healthcare, education, and interviewing processes, bringing us one step closer to truly human-like social machines.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_20993
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle SAC: A Framework for Measuring and Inducing Personality Traits in LLMs with Dynamic Intensity Control
Chittem, Adithya
Shrivastava, Aishna
Pendela, Sai Tarun
Challa, Jagat Sesh
Kumar, Dhruv
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
Large language models (LLMs) have gained significant traction across a wide range of fields in recent years. There is also a growing expectation for them to display human-like personalities during interactions. To meet this expectation, numerous studies have proposed methods for modelling LLM personalities through psychometric evaluations. However, most existing models face two major limitations: they rely on the Big Five (OCEAN) framework, which only provides coarse personality dimensions, and they lack mechanisms for controlling trait intensity. In this paper, we address this gap by extending the Machine Personality Inventory (MPI), which originally used the Big Five model, to incorporate the 16 Personality Factor (16PF) model, allowing expressive control over sixteen distinct traits. We also developed a structured framework known as Specific Attribute Control (SAC) for evaluating and dynamically inducing trait intensity in LLMs. Our method introduces adjective-based semantic anchoring to guide trait intensity expression and leverages behavioural questions across five intensity factors: \textit{Frequency}, \textit{Depth}, \textit{Threshold}, \textit{Effort}, and \textit{Willingness}. Through experimentation, we find that modelling intensity as a continuous spectrum yields substantially more consistent and controllable personality expression compared to binary trait toggling. Moreover, we observe that changes in target trait intensity systematically influence closely related traits in psychologically coherent directions, suggesting that LLMs internalize multi-dimensional personality structures rather than treating traits in isolation. Our work opens new pathways for controlled and nuanced human-machine interactions in domains such as healthcare, education, and interviewing processes, bringing us one step closer to truly human-like social machines.
title SAC: A Framework for Measuring and Inducing Personality Traits in LLMs with Dynamic Intensity Control
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20993