Personality traits displayed on a workbench are grouped into a character profile that is utilized in determining the personality and/or specific actions of a synthetic character. The personality traits are selectable by an operator from graduated dials. The personality traits may also be displayed in the form of selectable attributes or trait indicative behaviors that, when selected, are mapped into predetermined amounts of each trait in the character profile. The character profile is utilized to compute activation levels for primary behaviors, which are selected to influence or direct behavior of the synthetic character. Secondary behaviors are also selected, but discarded if conflicting with the selected primary behaviors. When behaviors are selected, the corresponding behaviors are translated into classes of `personality effectors` that modulate the synthetic character's behavioral expression to reflect the desired set of traits.