{"ID":2861794,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00414","arxiv_id":"2510.00414","title":"RELATE-Sim: Leveraging Turning Point Theory and LLM Agents to Predict and Understand Long-Term Relationship Dynamics through Interactive Narrative Simulations","abstract":"Most dating technologies optimize for getting together, not staying together. We present RELATE-Sim, a theory-grounded simulator that models how couples behave at consequential turning points-exclusivity talks, conflict-and-repair episodes, relocations-rather than static traits. Two persona-aligned LLM agents (one per partner) interact under a centralized Scene Master that frames each turning point as a compact set of realistic options, advances the narrative, and infers interpretable state changes and an auditable commitment estimate after each scene. On a longitudinal dataset of 71 couples with two-year follow-ups, simulation-aware predictions outperform a personas-only baseline while surfacing actionable markers (e.g., repair attempts acknowledged, clarity shifts) that explain why trajectories diverge. RELATE-Sim pushes the relationship research's focus from matchmaking to maintenance, providing a transparent, extensible platform for understanding and forecasting long-term relationship dynamics.","short_abstract":"Most dating technologies optimize for getting together, not staying together. We present RELATE-Sim, a theory-grounded simulator that models how couples behave at consequential turning points-exclusivity talks, conflict-and-repair episodes, relocations-rather than static traits. Two persona-aligned LLM agents (one per...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00414","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.00414v1","authors":"[\"Matthew Yue\",\"Zhikun Xu\",\"Vivek Gupta\",\"Thao Ha\",\"Liesal Sharabi\",\"Ben Zhou\"]","published":"2025-10-01T01:50:15Z","proceeding":"cs.HC","tasks":"[\"cs.HC\"]","methods":"[\"Large Language Model\"]","has_code":false}