SemEval-2026 Task 3: Dimensional Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis (DimABSA)

arXiv cs.CL / 4/9/2026

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Key Points

  • SemEval-2026 Task 3 introduces Dimensional Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis (DimABSA), modeling sentiment using valence–arousal (VA) dimensions instead of categorical polarity labels to better capture nuanced affect.
  • To extend aspect-based sentiment analysis beyond consumer reviews into public-issue discourse (e.g., political, energy, climate), the task adds Dimensional Stance Analysis (DimStance), treating stance targets as aspects and reframing stance detection as VA-space regression.
  • The benchmark includes two tracks—Track A (DimABSA) with regression plus structured extraction subtasks (triplets and quadruplets) and Track B (DimStance) with a regression subtask focused on stance targets.
  • A new continuous F1 (cF1) metric is proposed to jointly evaluate VA regression quality and structured extraction performance.
  • The shared task attracted 400+ participants, yielding 112 final submissions and 42 system papers, with baselines, top-system discussions, and design-choice analyses provided and released via a GitHub repository.

Abstract

We present the SemEval-2026 shared task on Dimensional Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis (DimABSA), which improves traditional ABSA by modeling sentiment along valence-arousal (VA) dimensions rather than using categorical polarity labels. To extend ABSA beyond consumer reviews to public-issue discourse (e.g., political, energy, and climate issues), we introduce an additional task, Dimensional Stance Analysis (DimStance), which treats stance targets as aspects and reformulates stance detection as regression in the VA space. The task consists of two tracks: Track A (DimABSA) and Track B (DimStance). Track A includes three subtasks: (1) dimensional aspect sentiment regression, (2) dimensional aspect sentiment triplet extraction, and (3) dimensional aspect sentiment quadruplet extraction, while Track B includes only the regression subtask for stance targets. We also introduce a continuous F1 (cF1) metric to jointly evaluate structured extraction and VA regression. The task attracted more than 400 participants, resulting in 112 final submissions and 42 system description papers. We report baseline results, discuss top-performing systems, and analyze key design choices to provide insights into dimensional sentiment analysis at the aspect and stance-target levels. All resources are available on our GitHub repository.