[Submitted on 23 Jul 2026 (v1), last revised 13 Oct 2026 (this version, v3)]
Abstract:Controlling combinations of personality-related tendencies is important for adapting large language models to diverse interaction needs. But successful single-trait steering does not establish how to construct interventions for joint targets, or whether existing trait directions adequately represent them. We introduce a target-first framework that directly extracts steering directions from joint personality targets and then examines their decomposition into individual directions. To support this framework, we construct NarrationDB, linking character self-narrations to automatically evaluated joint scores across eight Jungian-inspired functions, a correspondence not directly available in existing Big Five- or MBTI-oriented resources. Experiments on three models demonstrate questionnaire-score controllability across the eight functions and coordinated changes in a tested two-function target. Directly extracted joint directions are better approximated by their corresponding individual directions than by unrelated pairings, but retain substantial residual components. Our work provides a method and resource for investigating joint personality control, with evidence that individual steering directions capture part, but not all, of the structure of joint targets.
Submission history
From: Zai Liu [view email]
[v1] Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:18:39 UTC (334 KB)
[v2] Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:33:17 UTC (1 KB) (withdrawn)
[v3] Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:02:48 UTC (874 KB)