We propose KL-Coupled Policy Regularization (KCPR), a policy coordination framework for Reward-Punishment Reinforcement Learning (RPRL). Based on KCPR, we derive KL-Coupled Soft Optimality (KCSO) and develop its deep realization, klDMP. Unlike existing RPRL approaches that optimize reward-seeking and punishment-related policies largely independently, KCPR enables direct interactions between companion policies by treating each as a dynamically learned prior for the other. KCSO yields coupled soft-optimal policies and KL-regularized Bellman operators, allowing reward and punishment information to jointly influence value propagation. To improve learning stability, we introduce a companion-prior softening mechanism and evaluate separate replay-buffer designs for balancing reward- and punishment-related experience. Experiments in grid-world and Gazebo robotic navigation tasks demonstrate that klDMP improves safety and learning stability while maintaining competitive task performance compared with DQN, SQL and softDMP. These results suggest that policy-level coordination provides an effective mechanism for integrating multiple behavioral objectives and may serve as a useful design principle for reinforcement learning systems with interacting motivational processes.
Instilling virtuous behavior in artificial intelligence has seen increasing interest. One of the techniques proposed is known as affinity-based reinforcement learning, which uses policy regularization on the objective function to incentivize virtuous actions without being fully dependent on the reward function design. Thus far, this technique has been demonstrated to be effective in grid worlds and toy-problem environments with minimal state and action spaces. To expand this research to more sophisticated environments, we introduce a two-player multi-agent environment based on the role-playing board game known as Fog of Love. In this environment, two agents compete to fulfill their individual virtues, while also cooperating to satisfy their relationship. Given the multi-agent nature, this is a complex problem where multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient agents neither compete nor cooperate successfully. We present evidence that localized affinities enhance agent performance in achieving both competitive and cooperative objectives, resulting from superior overall scores in both domains. This not only results in virtuous choices but also clarifies an agent's teleology and makes its behavior human-level interpretable.