Large language models (LLMs) increasingly store user preferences in persistent memory to support personalization across interactions. However, in third-party communication settings governed by social and institutional norms, some user preferences may be inappropriate to apply. We introduce BenchPreS, which evaluates whether memory-based user preferences are appropriately applied or suppressed across communication contexts. Using two complementary metrics, Misapplication Rate (MR) and Appropriate Application Rate (AAR), we find even frontier LLMs struggle to apply preferences in a context-sensitive manner. Models with stronger preference adherence exhibit higher rates of over-application, and neither reasoning capability nor prompt-based defenses fully resolve this issue. These results suggest current LLMs treat personalized preferences as globally enforceable rules rather than as context-dependent normative signals.
@article{arxiv.2603.16557,
title = {BenchPreS: A Benchmark for Context-Aware Personalized Preference Selectivity of Persistent-Memory LLMs},
author = {Sangyeon Yoon and Sunkyoung Kim and Hyesoo Hong and Wonje Jeung and Yongil Kim and Wooseok Seo and Heuiyeen Yeen and Albert No},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.16557},
year = {2026}
}