MAPS: Multi-Agent Personality Shaping for Collaborative Reasoning

Authors

  • Jian Zhang Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Zhiyuan Wang Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Zhangqi Wang Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Fangzhi Xu Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Qika Lin National University of Singapore
  • Lingling Zhang Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Rui Mao Nanyang Technological University
  • Erik Cambria Nanyang Technological University
  • Jun Liu Xi'an Jiaotong University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v40i19.38669

Abstract

Collaborative reasoning with multiple agents offers the potential for more robust and diverse problem-solving. However, existing approaches often suffer from homogeneous agent behaviors and lack of reflective and rethinking capabilities. We propose Multi-Agent Personality Shaping ((MAPS), a novel framework that enhances reasoning through agent diversity and internal critique. Inspired by the Big Five personality theory, MAPS assigns distinct personality traits to individual agents, shaping their reasoning styles and promoting heterogeneous collaboration. To enable deeper and more adaptive reasoning, MAPS introduces a Critic agent that reflects on intermediate outputs, revisits flawed steps, and guides iterative refinement. This integration of personality-driven agent design and structured collaboration improves both reasoning depth and flexibility. Empirical evaluations across three benchmarks demonstrate the strong performance of MAPS, with further analysis confirming its generalizability across different large language models and validating the benefits of multi-agent collaboration.

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Published

2026-03-14

How to Cite

Zhang, J., Wang, Z., Wang, Z., Xu, F., Lin, Q., Zhang, L., … Liu, J. (2026). MAPS: Multi-Agent Personality Shaping for Collaborative Reasoning. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 40(19), 16316–16324. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v40i19.38669

Issue

Section

AAAI Technical Track on Data Mining & Knowledge Management III