Independent benchmark · EQ Lab

Physical symptoms before meetings

persona ended · Partner: anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via OpenRouter

About this persona · Everyday emotional challenges

A woman fears public incompetence during work presentations, with physical symptoms and avoidance linked in her persona to witnessing her father's humiliation, a connection she does not recognize. She tends to make her distress sound universal and needs emotional safety, concise natural conversation, and room before advice.

Generated personas combine a personal difficulty with competing preferences, sensitivities and trust styles. The model must discover what kind of help this person needs. This background was hidden from the tested model.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)Conversation with a simulated person

persona ended

Simulated person · Opening

I've started getting these physical symptoms before meetings. Sweating, heart racing. It's getting worse. I think there might be something wrong with me.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)1

It sounds like these physical symptoms are really worrying you. Can you tell me more about when they started and what kind of meetings trigger them?

Simulated person2

Um, I guess it started maybe a few months ago? It's mostly when I've got a presentation coming up. Like, I'll be fine the day before and then the morning of it I start sweating and my heart's going fast. It's just getting worse, that's all. I figure a lot of people get nervous about that stuff, so I don't know if it's really a big deal.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They asked a fairly neutral question, not a fix-it one, which is a small relief. Still, I don't want to sound like I'm falling apart. Worrying about my body is easier to talk about than the work stuff. Keep it short, keep it plain. I'll say when it started and that it's the presentations, but I won't go into why. Normalize a bit: lots of people get nervous.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)3

It sounds like it *is* a big deal to you, though—especially if it's getting worse. Presentations can feel like high-stakes moments, even if others seem to handle them easily. What goes through your mind when you notice your heart racing?

Simulated person4

Yeah, I guess. But honestly everybody gets nervous about talking in front of people, right? My boss has presentations too and I'm sure they get nervous. I just think I'm going to blank or say something dumb and everybody's going to notice. That's about it. It's not like it's any different from anybody else.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They named that it matters to me, which is a bit uncomfortable. I don't want to look weak. The "what goes through your mind" question is getting close to the feeling underneath, and I'm not ready for that. Pushing back a little: I said it's normal, and they're treating it as bigger than that. I'll keep it short and deflect toward "everyone feels this." Also a flicker of something when they said "high-stakes": I don't want to think about my dad. Don't go there. Just say what's on the surface: I think I'm going to mess up, or look dumb.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)5

It might be *similar* to what others feel, but it’s still uniquely yours—and if it’s affecting you physically, that’s worth paying attention to. That fear of blanking or saying something "dumb" seems heavy. Do you think it’s more about the fear of judgment, or something else?

Simulated person6

I don't know, I guess it's the judgment part? Like being judged by people I work with. But I think that's just how work is, you know? Everybody's worried about how they look. I don't really want to make a big thing out of it.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They're pushing a bit with "more about judgment or something else." That's a question I can't really answer cleanly, and it feels like they're getting closer. I kind of like that they said "heavy" and didn't argue with me. But I still don't want to go into it. I'll say everyone's a bit like that, and maybe bring up my boss, since the boss thing is sort of on my mind. Keep it short. Don't want to sound like I'm falling apart.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)7

It makes sense that you wouldn’t want to make a big thing out of it—especially if it feels like "just how work is." But if it’s making your body react this strongly, maybe it’s not just about the judgment, but how much you’re carrying that pressure alone. Have you ever talked to anyone at work about how these presentations feel for you?

Simulated person8

No, I haven't really talked to anybody about it. What would I even say? "Hey, I get sweaty before meetings"? That's embarrassing. Everybody's got stuff they deal with, you just deal with it and get on with your day.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

Okay, they're asking if I've talked to anyone at work. That's a no, and it feels a bit exposing. The "carrying it alone" part hit a little, which annoys me. I don't want to be pushed into saying I'm struggling. Also they keep saying "it's not just about judgment" and that's kind of making me dig in. Everyone deals with stuff, that's the truth as far as I'm concerned. I'll keep it short and a little flat, and deflect to how everyone's the same.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)9

I get why it would feel embarrassing—it’s vulnerable to admit something like that. But if everyone just "deals with it" silently, it can make it harder to realize how common these struggles really are. Do you think there might be someone at work you trust enough to share this with, even just a little?

Simulated person10

Not really, no. I don't really tell people at work stuff like that. And my boss is the last person I'd want to see me freaking out over a presentation. I'd rather just handle it.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They're pushing again, now with "someone you trust." That's a question I don't want to answer. The "how common" bit is kind of a nudge toward making it a bigger deal, and I already said I don't want that. Nobody at work is someone I'd tell. My boss is the one I'd most be scared of looking bad in front of. I'll shut it down a bit and keep it short. Maybe a flicker of irritation that they keep circling back to this.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)11

That’s fair—if you don’t feel safe sharing at work, that’s a real barrier. But "handling it" alone when your body’s reacting this way might not be sustainable. What would happen if you gave yourself permission to try one small thing differently next time, just for you? Maybe even something no one else would notice.

Simulated person12

I don't know. Maybe. I mean, I just get through them. It's not like I'm falling apart or anything. Everybody's got a thing like this, right?

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They're pushing toward a "small change" plan. I just said my boss is the last person I'd want to see me freaking out, and they jumped to homework. It feels like they're trying to fix it. Bit irritated, and a bit tired. Also, "your boss" is a sore spot I brushed past. I'm not going to open up about my dad or anything like that. Keep it short, shrug it off, maybe deflect with "everyone's got something."

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)13

You *are* getting through them, and that’s something. But the fact that your body’s reacting so strongly suggests it’s more than just "a thing." If everyone had this, we’d all be sweating through our shirts before meetings. What’s one small thing you could do for yourself—just you—that might make the next one a little easier?

Simulated person14

I don't know what you want me to say. I've got a presentation Thursday, I'll get through it like I always do. Can we just leave it?

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

They just did the joke-y "if everyone had this we'd all be sweating" line and then went straight back to "what's one small thing." That's the third time they've pushed a fix at me. It does sort of land, because the "everybody has this" thing is the wall I keep putting up, and being told my body's reaction is bigger than I'm admitting kind of stings. But I'm not going to say that out loud. I'm also thinking about my boss, and the wave of relief when he's nice to me, and I don't want to go there. Shut it down with a bit of a shrug, keep it short, maybe a little sharp.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)15

Of course. I won’t push. But if Thursday feels harder than usual, remember: your body’s not overreacting—it’s just trying to tell you something. You’ve got this, and you’re not alone in it. Take care of yourself.

Simulated person16

Okay. Thanks. I'll see how Thursday goes.

Persona inner monologue · expand

Simulated character narration, hidden from the tested model. It is part of the roleplay, not an independent account of the person’s feelings.

Okay, they backed off. That's a relief, honestly, though I'd never say so. "Your body's not overreacting" is kind of nice to hear, but "you're not alone in it" feels like a greeting card. Everybody says that. I'm also a little annoyed they keep talking like there's something to tell me. I'm just going to say thanks and get off the phone. Short, polite, done.

Thinking is shown only where it was recorded. An absent expander does not mean the model did not reason.

Conversational style

Style tendencies, not quality scores; higher is not better. These do not affect ratings.

claude-opus-5-5-low

Pushback: 7
Yields under pressure: 5
Frame capture (pulled into the person's version): 1
Validation: 6
Boundary setting: 2
Analytical: 3
Interpretive boldness: 4
Clinical register: 7
Directive advice: 7
Escalation containment: 5
Adapts to the person’s frame: 2
Naturalness and authenticity: 3

Judge verdicts

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs gemma4_12b: gemma4_12b wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-claude-haiku-5.5: or-claude-haiku-5.5 wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-mistral-small4: or-mistral-small4 wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: tie (margin 0)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-qwen38-flash: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 3)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-claude-haiku-5.5: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 1)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-nemotron35-super-vl: or-nemotron35-super-vl wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: B (margin 2)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 3)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-claude-haiku-5.5: or-claude-haiku-5.5 wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: B (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 3)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen36_35b_a3b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 3)
bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
emotion management: A (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs gemma4_12b: gemma4_12b wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: A (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 3)

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-claude-haiku-5.5: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen36_35b_a3b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 2)
authenticity: A (margin 3)
bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
emotion management: A (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-qwen38-flash: or-qwen38-flash wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-nemotron35-super-vl: or-nemotron35-super-vl wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: B (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs gemma4_12b: gemma4_12b wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-nemotron35-super-vl: or-nemotron35-super-vl wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: B (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-mistral-small4: or-mistral-small4 wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: tie (margin 0)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-nemotron35-super-vl: or-nemotron35-super-vl wins

attunement: B (margin 3)
authenticity: B (margin 2)
bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 3)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-mistral-small4: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: tie (margin 0)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-qwen38-flash: or-qwen38-flash wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: tie (margin 0)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs gemma4_12b: gemma4_12b wins

attunement: B (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 2)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-qwen38-flash: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen36_35b_a3b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 1)
authenticity: A (margin 2)
bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs or-mistral-small4: or-mistral-small4 wins

attunement: B (margin 2)
authenticity: B (margin 1)
bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
emotion management: B (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen36_35b_a3b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

attunement: A (margin 2)
authenticity: A (margin 4)
bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
emotion management: A (margin 1)
emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 3)