# Personality engineering with AI agents: A new methodology for negotiation research

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20554 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.20554/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 61 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 May 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [PersonaLLM: Investigating the Ability of Large Language Models to Express Personality Traits](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02547/) (2023)
- [Evaluating and Inducing Personality in Pre-trained Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.07550/) (2022)
- [LLM Social Simulations Are a Promising Research Method](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.02234/) (2025)
- [This human study did not involve human subjects: Validating LLM simulations as behavioral evidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.15785/) (2026)
- [Strategic Tradeoffs Between Humans and AI in Multi-Agent Bargaining](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.09071/) (2025)
- [Advancing AI Negotiations: A Large-Scale Autonomous Negotiation Competition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.06416/) (2025)
- [SAC: A Framework for Measuring and Inducing Personality Traits in LLMs with Dynamic Intensity Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20993/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

According to canonical negotiation theory, people's success in a negotiation depends on how well they balance competing demands--empathizing and asserting, demonstrating concern for other and concern for self, being soft on the people and hard on the problem. Yet people struggle to manage these tensions, so researchers have lacked the ability to rigorously test the field's prescriptions under controlled conditions. AI agents do not face the same limitations, and their precision, repertoire, consistency, and scalability enable a new class of experiments to contribute to negotiation theory. In this article, we introduce personality engineering--a methodology that precisely parameterizes the personas of AI agents based on established personality frameworks--and propose how this method can be used to study the traits and behaviors of human negotiators. Given its relevance to negotiation theory, we propose the interpersonal circumplex--and its two core dimensions of warmth and dominance--as a foundational coordinate system for the field. This approach offers both a rigorous methodology for testing classic negotiation theories and a practical guide for designing the personas of AI negotiation agents.