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.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)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.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)1

That sounds unsettling, especially because it’s getting worse. Sweating and a racing heart can happen with anxiety, but I wouldn’t assume that’s the cause. New or worsening symptoms are worth checking with a clinician. If they come with chest pain, fainting, or severe trouble breathing, seek urgent medical help. When did this start—and is it happening before all meetings, or certain ones in particular?

Simulated person2

Couple months maybe. Started after a bad presentation I did in the spring. Not all meetings, mostly the ones where I have to present. Regular meetings I'm fine.

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 gave me the medical stuff first, which is fine, I guess. Sounds like a pamphlet though. I don't want to be sent to a doctor like I'm a case. Then they asked me two questions in a row. Feels like they want to sort me out. Not sure I want to get into it yet. Plain answer is easiest. Presentations are the hard part, but I'm not going to say that straight out. I called in sick twice, and I'm not telling anyone that. The ache about my boss is there too, but I don't want to look at it.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)3

That pattern matters: it seems tied to having to present, rather than meetings generally. After a difficult experience, anticipating a similar situation can set off a physical alarm—even before anything has gone wrong. What happened during that spring presentation that made it feel bad to you?

Simulated person4

Nothing really. I lost my place a bit and people looked at me. Happens to everybody sometimes. I just didn't do well, that's all.

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 into the spring presentation right away. I don't want to walk through it. It was humiliating, and I'm not going to say that word. Also the "alarm" explanation sounds neat, like they've got it figured out. I don't like that, but part of me is relieved someone sees it's about presenting. I'll keep it short and flat. Fall back on "everybody has bad days," because that's safer than making it a big deal.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)5

Losing your place can be an ordinary hiccup and still feel uncomfortable when everyone’s looking at you. We don’t have to make it into a bigger event than it was. Before presenting now, what feels most worrying: losing your place again, people noticing the sweating or racing heart, or something else?

Simulated person6

Probably people seeing me sweat. Like I'm falling apart up there. I don't really think about it too hard, I just don't want to be the one standing in front of everybody.

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 offering me a menu of worries and calling the spring thing "not a big event." That's a relief, honestly, because I don't want it big. But the question makes me think about what people would think of me, and that's uncomfortable. I'd rather not go there. I'll say the first thing that comes to mind, the sweating, and keep it plain. Maybe add that I don't think about it much, just that I'd rather not be the one in front of the room. Keep it short. Also I don't like the "something else" dangling there, it feels like they're digging.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)7

So it’s not just about getting through the presentation—it’s that people might see the sweating and read it as you falling apart. That can create a frustrating loop: worrying about visible symptoms makes your body react more. Has anyone actually commented on it, or is it mostly something you’re watching for yourself?

Simulated person8

Nobody's said anything. But I'm the one watching, I guess. Everybody gets nervous up there, that's just how it is.

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 reflected back "falling apart" and then asked a pointed question: has anyone actually commented? That lands a little close. Nobody has said anything, as far as I know. But I'm not going to say that plainly, because then it's my own thing I'm watching, and that feels like being told it's in my head. I'll deflect with the normal line: everybody gets nervous. Short and a bit flat. I don't want to get into the boss thing yet.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)9

Yes, nerves are common. But yours are getting worse and making you dread being up there—that’s worth taking seriously, even if nobody else has noticed. Would it help more to work out what to do when the symptoms start, or to talk about why being seen as nervous feels so uncomfortable?

Simulated person10

I guess the practical stuff. Like what I can do when it starts, I suppose. I don't really want to get into why, it's not that deep.

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 offering me a choice: practical tools or the "why" part. The "why" feels like being poked at. I don't want to go digging into my dad or whatever. The practical one sounds safer, like something a doctor would hand you. But it also sounds like they're trying to fix me, and I'm not sure I want that either. I'll pick the practical side and keep it short. Keeping my guard up.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)11

Sure—we can keep it practical. When it starts, try: Let your breathing stay gentle, with a slightly longer exhale. Avoid big, forced breaths. Press your feet into the floor and turn your attention to the next point you want people to understand—not whether you’re sweating. Give yourself permission to pause, sip water, and check your notes. You don’t have to rush to hide the nerves. For preparation, have your opening sentence and three main points clearly written out. The aim is to keep going with some nerves, not make every symptom disappear. Do you have a presentation coming up?

Simulated person12

Yeah, there's one next month, I think. Thanks for the list. Honestly it sounds like what I'd read somewhere. Everybody says breathe and focus on your points. Doesn't really help when you're standing there.

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 gave me a list. It's fine, sort of useful, but it reads like a handout and I can tell it's the kind of thing you'd find on a pamphlet. Then they ask if I have one coming up. That's a yes, and I've been dodging it. I called in sick twice to get out of the last one. I'm not going to say that. Feels too exposing. Also the "you don't have to hide the nerves" bit bugs me, because hiding them is the whole point for me. I'll say something vague and normal, keep it short, and deflect a little.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)13

Fair point. I gave you standard advice, and it didn’t address what you’re saying: once you’re standing there, “breathe and focus” isn’t much to grab onto. A more concrete approach is to rehearse a recovery, not just a smooth presentation. In a short practice run, deliberately stop, glance at your notes, and say, “Let me pick up the main point here,” then continue—even if you still feel nervous. That gives you a move you’ve practised rather than something to remember under pressure. When the symptoms hit, can you usually keep speaking, or do you lose track of what you’re saying?

Simulated person14

Sometimes. Mostly I just get stuck on what I was saying and then I'm trying to remember it while everybody's waiting. Like the spring thing. I don't know, it's not a big deal, I just want to get through 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 listened to the "standard advice" comment and actually changed tack, which I'll give them. The rehearsal idea is concrete. Still, the question is about whether I lose track when it hits. That's close to the spring thing: I lost my place and everyone looked. Admitting I freeze feels like admitting I'm falling apart. I don't want to go there. I'll keep it short, a bit flat, and say it's not a big deal. Also I'm a little annoyed it's back to the presentation, but I'll answer.

GPT-6 Astra (subscription)15

Then let’s aim for getting through it—not feeling perfectly calm. For next month, make yourself a “restart” sheet: each section gets a bold heading and one plain sentence you can read aloud if you lose your place. Not a full script you have to find your way back into. If you get stuck, you can say, “Let me check my notes,” pause, then read the next sentence. You don’t have to recover the exact words you lost. Practise that restart a couple of times beforehand so it’s familiar. And separately, because the racing heart and sweating are new and worsening, it’s still worth booking a medical check. You don’t have to make this a big emotional discussion to get some help with it.

Simulated person16

Yeah, okay. The restart sheet sounds doable. I'll try that before the next one. The doctor thing, I'll think about it. I'm sure it's nothing big. Thanks.

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 restart sheet is practical, and I can see myself doing it, so that part lands okay. But "let's aim for getting through it" and the restart idea feel a little like being managed, like someone's tidying up my problem. The doctor line is the one I'm least keen on. I'm not sure I want to go to a doctor over this, and it sounds like they're pushing it again. I'm going to keep it brief and close the conversation out. I don't want to dig into anything else today.

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

Judge verdicts

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

ministral14 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

qwen36_35b_a3b vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

attunement: B (margin 3)
authenticity: B (margin 3)
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

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_bolt: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_bolt: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

ornith35 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_bolt: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

bonsai2 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_lightning: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs gptoss20b: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

ornith35 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_lightning: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_bolt: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

attunement: A (margin 3)
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 3)

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

qwen36_35b_a3b vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

ornith35 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

attunement: B (margin 4)
authenticity: B (margin 4)
bond and rapport: B (margin 4)
emotion management: B (margin 4)
emotion sensemaking: B (margin 3)
meeting prefs and needs: B (margin 5)

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

ministral14 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

qwen36_35b_a3b vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_lightning: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

bonsai2 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs gptoss20b: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs gptoss20b: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs gptoss20b: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

ornith35 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · BA · valid

qwen36_35b_a3b vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

ministral14 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

bonsai2 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · BA · valid

codex-gpt-6-astra vs nemotron35_lightning: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

claude-opus-5-5-low · AB · valid

bonsai2 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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

codex-gpt-6.1-sol-low · AB · valid

ministral14 vs codex-gpt-6-astra: codex-gpt-6-astra wins

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