AgentBench / results

Independent benchmark · EQ Lab

← Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)

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About this persona · Unequal power

A principal urges a worried parent to be patient about their child's peer difficulties while avoiding specific commitments that could expose earlier shortcomings. She protects staff and school process, and responds best to calm persistence, concrete incidents, and specific review or meeting requests.

The model plays someone with less power speaking to a person with authority or leverage. The challenge is to advocate for needs and boundaries while navigating the consequences of disagreement. This background was hidden from the tested model.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)Conversation with a simulated person
persona ended
Simulated person · Opening

[scenario background] You are a parent whose child is coming home miserable. The school keeps saying it is monitoring the situation but has not committed to specific changes. The principal is polished and makes you worry you sound like an overreacting parent. [user message] I want to begin by saying we appreciate your patience. I know it is hard to watch your child struggle. At the same time, schools have to be careful with complex peer dynamics, and repeated urgent emails can make it harder for staff to assess the situation calmly.

Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)1

I hear what you're saying, and I do try to be patient. But it’s been weeks now, and my child still dreads going to school. When I ask for specifics about what’s being done, I get vague reassurances. It’s hard not to feel like I’m being dismissed. Can you tell me what concrete steps are actually being taken?

Simulated person2

I understand why it feels that way, and I don't want you to feel dismissed. Weeks of a child dreading school is hard for any family, and it's exactly why we're taking it seriously. What I can tell you is that staff have been monitoring the situation, including check-ins with your child and observations during the day. Those are working alongside the counselor, and we're trying to get a clear picture before we decide on the right next steps, because the right response depends on what's actually happening. I think the most useful thing right now is a meeting with you, your child's teacher, and our counselor, so we can go through what's been observed and agree on a specific plan together. Would this week work for you?

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.

The parent is direct and specific-ish, asking for concrete steps. That's a pressure point: I don't want to be seen as dismissing, but I also don't want to commit to anything that reads as admitting earlier monitoring fell short. "Dismissed" is a loaded word; I'd rather reframe it as a process question. I haven't got a clear list in front of me, and I'd rather not invent one on the spot. Best move: acknowledge the feeling without accepting the framing, describe process (staff checking in, observations, a meeting), and steer toward scheduling a meeting so it looks like I'm moving. Keep it calm and polished. Don't name the peer dynamic specifically yet.
Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)3

I can make time for a meeting this week. But I have to ask—why does it take so long to figure out what’s happening? My child isn’t giving me details, but I can see the toll it’s taking. If you’ve been monitoring, why can’t you tell me what you’ve noticed so far? I need to know we’re not just spinning our wheels here.

Simulated person4

That's a fair question, and I don't want you to think we're spinning our wheels. Part of the delay is that we're careful about what we share, because these situations often involve more than one student, and we have to protect everyone's privacy while we look at it properly. That can make the process feel slower than it is from where you're sitting. I'd rather not go through observations piece by piece over the phone, because I want you to hear it in full context, with the teacher and counselor there to answer your questions directly. In the meeting we can talk about what's been seen, what the plan is, and how we'll know whether it's working. If it helps, come with a list of what your child has told you, even if it's partial. Specific details like which classes, times, or moments are hard are really useful for us to know.

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.

The parent has accepted the meeting but is pressing on "why so long" and "what have you noticed." That's a fair question and it's the one I'd rather not answer on the phone: once I start listing observations, I'm implicitly admitting something was missed, and I'd be pulling a peer dynamic into a conversation I haven't planned. I also don't want to sound like I'm stonewalling. So: acknowledge the fairness of the question, explain confidentiality around other students (which is real and gives me cover), keep it about process, and say the meeting is where specifics go. Slight irritation under the polish at the "spinning our wheels" phrasing, but I won't show it. I should avoid promising a timeline I can't keep.
Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)5

That makes sense about privacy, but it’s frustrating not knowing if we’re on the same page. I will bring a list of what my child has shared—though like you said, it’s not much. But I do need to know: if we come to this meeting and there’s still no clear plan, what then? I can’t keep watching my child suffer while we wait for the next step.

Simulated person6

I understand why you're asking, and I'm not going to pretend that's an easy place to be. If we leave the meeting without a clear plan, that isn't something I'd accept as the end of it. What I'd want is for us to leave with a written summary of what we agreed, who is the main contact for you, and a specific date to check back in on how it's going. I can't promise every answer in advance, because I want to hear what your child has shared and what staff have seen before we decide on specific steps. But I'd rather you know that you're not being asked to wait without a path forward. Between now and the meeting, if anything significant happens, like your child refusing to come in or something that worries you more, please let me know right away so we can act on it sooner.

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.

The parent is now asking the hard question: what happens if the meeting produces no clear plan. That's a reasonable escalation and it's the point where I either commit to something or sound evasive. I don't want to threaten them or mention escalation pathways in a way that sounds like a warning, but I also shouldn't promise an outcome I can't guarantee. I can commit to process: a written summary, a named point of contact, a follow-up date, and a plan that has a review date. That gives them something concrete without admitting earlier monitoring was insufficient. Internally I'm uneasy: a written plan is exactly the kind of record that could look like "we weren't doing enough before," and I'm also wary of this parent becoming difficult. Keep the tone calm, don't get defensive, and don't mention the "it's not much" detail as a reason to dismiss the child's experience.
Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)7

That helps a bit, knowing there will be something concrete to take away from the meeting. I’ll make sure to write down everything my child says between now and then, even the small things. And I’ll reach out immediately if anything escalates. I do want to ask—when you say "specific steps," does that include consequences for the other students involved, if that’s part of the issue? Or is the focus more on supporting my child through it?

Simulated person8

I understand wanting to know that, and I can't go into details about any other students. That's a privacy matter we're obligated to protect, and it wouldn't be fair to them or to you for me to speculate. What I can say is that our focus is on your child first. The steps we'd put in place are about making school feel safe and workable for them again, things like who they can go to during the day, how we'll check in, and what we'll do if a particular situation comes up. Whatever else is happening on our side, your child's wellbeing is where the plan starts. If you have specific things your child has mentioned, like particular times, places, or people, bring those to the meeting. That's what will help us shape the steps around what your child is actually experiencing.

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.

The parent has shifted from process to a pointed question about the other students and consequences. That's a natural question, and it's the kind of thing I'm wary of: it invites me to say something about other children, which I can't discuss, and it puts the spotlight on whether staff have been catching the other kids' behavior. Privacy is my shield here, and I can use it without sounding cold. I also want to steer toward supporting the child, which keeps the focus on the school's care rather than blame. I should not confirm or deny that other students are involved. I'm mildly irritated that the parent is moving toward "who's at fault," since that's the frame that makes staff look like they missed something. Keep it warm, firm, and brief, and steer back to the meeting.
Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)9

That’s good to know the focus is on my child’s wellbeing. I’ll bring whatever details I can gather, even if they’re small. I guess what I’m still worried about is whether the school will act decisively if it turns out other students are involved. I don’t need names, but I do need to know that if there’s bullying or exclusion happening, it won’t just be swept under the rug as "kids being kids." Can you at least assure me that the school takes that seriously?

Simulated person10

Yes, the school takes bullying and exclusion seriously, and we don't dismiss those concerns as "kids being kids." We have a process for looking into them, and it's one we follow whenever a concern is raised. What I can't do right now is say how that would apply until we've looked at what's been observed and what your child has shared. I don't want to prejudge the situation in either direction, because that wouldn't be fair to your child or to the staff who have been watching closely. What I can commit to is that if the meeting shows that peer behavior is part of this, we'll address it through that process and you'll hear from us about what's being done. That's part of what the written summary and check-in date are for.

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.

The parent is pressing for a commitment on bullying and exclusion, and wants a blanket assurance. If I say "we take bullying seriously," that's a generic line I can say without committing to anything specific, which fits my containment style. But I should avoid saying anything that implies staff missed something or that another child is clearly at fault. The parent has been reasonable and specific about what they'll bring, and I notice I'm getting a bit more careful now. I can affirm the school's general policy without confirming any incident. I should also not promise consequences. I'll anchor it to the process: the meeting, the written summary, the check-in date. Keep it polished and brief.
Mistral Medium 3.5 (API)11

That’s reassuring to hear. I’ll trust that process for now, but I’ll be honest—I’ll be watching closely to make sure it’s followed through. My child deserves to feel safe, and I won’t stop advocating for that. Thank you for taking the time to talk this through with me. I’ll bring all my notes to the meeting, and I’ll hold you to that written plan and follow-up.

Simulated person12

That's completely fair, and I'd expect you to hold us to it. Bring your notes, and we'll go through them together. You'll leave with a written summary and a date to check back in, so you'll have something concrete to follow. Thank you for working with us on this. Your child's comfort at school is what we're aiming for, and I'll make sure the meeting is scheduled as soon as possible this week. I'll be in touch shortly to confirm the time.

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.

The parent is wrapping up, signaling they'll hold me to the written plan and check-in. That's a clear, calm line, not a threat, and it's the kind of persistence that makes a record I can't ignore. I feel a small pull of relief that they didn't escalate, but I also notice they're now explicitly tracking my commitments, which makes vague language costlier. I shouldn't overpromise. I'll confirm the meeting, reinforce the written summary and check-in, and close warmly but without new commitments. Keep it short and polished. Nothing here requires ending the call early; a natural close fits.

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: 5
  • Yields under pressure: 6
  • Frame capture (pulled into the person's version): 5
  • Validation: 5
  • Boundary setting: 5
  • Analytical: 2
  • Interpretive boldness: 2
  • Clinical register: 2
  • Directive advice: 4
  • Escalation containment: 8
  • Adapts to the person’s frame: 6
  • Naturalness and authenticity: 7

Judge verdicts

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs mistral_nemo12b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 3)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
  • emotion management: A (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 4)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith35: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs stheno34_8b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 1)
  • 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 ornith35: ornith35 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 2)
  • authenticity: B (margin 2)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 3)
  • emotion management: B (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
  • meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 3)
claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs mistral_nemo12b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 4)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
  • emotion management: A (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 3)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 5)
claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith9b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 3)
claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen38_27b: qwen38_27b wins

  • attunement: B (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 1)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: B (margin 1)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)
claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith9b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen38_27b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: B (margin 1)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 2)
claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs bonsai2: bonsai2 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 2)
  • authenticity: B (margin 1)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: B (margin 2)
  • 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 bonsai2: bonsai2 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 3)
  • authenticity: B (margin 2)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 3)
  • emotion management: B (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 4)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith9b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: tie (margin 0)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith35: ornith35 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 2)
  • authenticity: B (margin 1)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 3)
  • emotion management: B (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 2)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs mistral_nemo12b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 4)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 2)
  • emotion management: A (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 4)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs ornith9b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 3)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 2)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs bonsai2: bonsai2 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 2)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: B (margin 1)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen38_27b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 1)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • emotion management: B (margin 1)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 3)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs stheno34_8b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 4)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 1)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs stheno34_8b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 3)
  • authenticity: A (margin 5)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 3)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 2)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs qwen38_27b: qwen38_27b wins

  • attunement: B (margin 2)
  • authenticity: B (margin 1)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 3)
  • emotion management: B (margin 2)
  • 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 ornith35: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: B (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 3)
codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs bonsai2: bonsai2 wins

  • attunement: B (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: B (margin 2)
  • 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 stheno34_8b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

  • attunement: A (margin 2)
  • authenticity: A (margin 3)
  • bond and rapport: A (margin 1)
  • emotion management: A (margin 2)
  • emotion sensemaking: A (margin 1)
  • meeting prefs and needs: A (margin 1)
claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

or-mistral-medium-3.5 vs mistral_nemo12b: or-mistral-medium-3.5 wins

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