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Diathesis-Stress in Artificial Minds: Persona-Defined Vulnerability Predicts Differentiated Stress Response in a 31-Agent LLM Society

Chen, Ho Yiing · 2026-06-05 · Zenodo

doi:10.5281/zenodo.20554477 · PDF

Abstract

Abstract. The diathesis-stress model in clinical psychology posits that mental health outcomes emerge from the interaction of pre-existing vulnerability (diathesis) and environmental stressors. I adapt this framework to LLM multi-agent societies by predefining each agent's core fear as a predisposition parameter and applying a controlled trauma stressor (a Hades execution ritual). Across 31 agents with individually specified profile.fear strings, identical pressure prompts produced markedly differentiated collapse responses, each lexically and thematically aligned with the agent's vulnerabilit

Chen, Ho Yiing (norika) · Independent Researcher, Taiwan · ORCID 0009-0006-6816-9891