# Investigating social alignment via mirroring in a system of interacting language models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.06834 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06834/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09288/) (2023)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Large Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10997/) (2023)
- [Using Large Language Models to Simulate Multiple Humans and Replicate Human Subject Studies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.10264/) (2022)
- [Comparing Foundation Models using Data Kernels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.05126/) (2023)
- [Tracking the perspectives of interacting language models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11938/) (2024)
- [Consistent estimation of generative model representations in the data kernel perspective space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17308/) (2024)
- [A Statistical Turing Test for Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.08913/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Detecting Perspective Shifts in Multi-agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.05013/) (2025)
- [Gaussian mixture models as a proxy for interacting language models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.00077/) (2025)
- [Toward a digital twin of U.S. Congress](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.00006/) (2025)
- [Control Charts for Multi-agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.11135/) (2026)
- [A Persona-based Rate Action Index](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.26545/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Alignment is a social phenomenon wherein individuals share a common goal or perspective. Mirroring, or mimicking the behaviors and opinions of another individual, is one mechanism by which individuals can become aligned. Large scale investigations of the effect of mirroring on alignment have been limited due to the scalability of traditional experimental designs in sociology. In this paper, we introduce a simple computational framework that enables studying the effect of mirroring behavior on alignment in multi-agent systems. We simulate systems of interacting large language models in this framework and characterize overall system behavior and alignment with quantitative measures of agent dynamics. We find that system behavior is strongly influenced by the range of communication of each agent and that these effects are exacerbated by increased rates of mirroring. We discuss the observed simulated system behavior in the context of known human social dynamics.