New research from the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management reveals how ignoring choice context leads to systematic errors in interpreting decisions. The research shows that observers largely ignore the fact that choices made from limited sets of options should be less informative about preferences than choices made from larger choice sets. The paper, “Choice Set Size Neglect in Predicting Others’ Preferences,” was published January 7, 2026, in Psychological Science. “When we see another person make a choice, we often assume that choice reflects a strong, stable preference,” says VanEpps. This tendency, which the authors call choice set size neglect, reflects a broader bias in social judgment.