At least what I noticed playing: I believe you get a point if you are both allies, or you betray them (maybe two points if you betray them, but they'll catch on if you do it too many times). You lose a point if they betray you. You get no points if you both betray each other.
There is a tutorial menu on the start screen that explains how the characters make a decision on whether to ally or betray, and when you get to each character it states their individual ideals above them. You have to either make a judgment call based on this information or use your chips to persuade them.
You must earn a certain amount of points to beat each threshold (like every 3 to 5 levels they up the ante). If you don't have enough points, game over.
VeryLukley, please let me know if I understood that all correctly?