Dialogue Systems for Emotional Support via Value Reinforcement
Juhee Kim, Chunghu Mok, Jisun Lee, Hyang Sook Kim, Yohan Jo

TL;DR
This paper introduces a novel value-driven approach for training emotional support dialogue systems that reinforce positive core beliefs, leveraging Reddit conversations to improve emotional support quality and long-term well-being.
Contribution
It presents the first method to integrate value reinforcement into emotional support dialogue systems, identifying which values to reinforce and how, using online Reddit data.
Findings
Outperforms baseline models in support skills and emotional intensity tasks.
Effectively explores and elicits values from users.
Reddit data significantly improves system effectiveness.
Abstract
Emotional support dialogue systems aim to reduce help-seekers' distress and help them overcome challenges. While human valuescore beliefs that shape an individual's prioritiesare increasingly emphasized in contemporary psychological therapy for their role in fostering internal transformation and long-term emotional well-being, their integration into emotional support systems remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, we present a value-driven method for training emotional support dialogue systems designed to reinforce positive values in seekers. Notably, our model identifies which values to reinforce at each turn and how to do so, by leveraging online support conversations from Reddit. We evaluate the method across support skills, seekers' emotional intensity, and value reinforcement. Our method consistently outperforms various baselines, effectively…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSpeech and dialogue systems
