The Safety Relay in Roleplay Jailbreaks: A Component-Resolved Causal Analysis of Harm Recognition and Refusal
Large language models are trained to follow instructions while refusing harmful requests. Jailbreaks exploit this balance to elicit content a model would ordinarily reject. Roleplay jailbreaks are especially concerning: ordinary instructions defining a persona, scenario, and task can induce compliance while the harmful request remains plainly visible. We investigate which components drive this reversal and how they affect the computations leading to the response. Across two benchmarks, three model families, and four authored wrappers, we compare matched harmful and benign requests under controlled combinations of these components. We trace internal harmful--benign contrasts at the request...
| Authors | Md Mokarram Chowdhury, Ernie Chang, Yang Li |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.LG |
| Published | 31 August 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 15 October 2026 |
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