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When do people claim to know the unknowable? The impact of informational context on overclaiming

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  • Atir, Stav
  • Rosenzweig, Emily
  • Dunning, David

Abstract

Managers and employees should not only identify what they know but also what they do not know. Yet, like other people, they often “overclaim” knowledge they cannot have, with myriad organizational consequences. Research has explored individual differences in such overclaiming. Herein, we propose that overclaiming is also contextually dependent on the informational environment. We find a robust assimilation effect of informational familiarity; people claim more knowledge of concepts that do not exist when they appear among familiar (versus unfamiliar) concepts (Studies 1–4). This effect is mediated by a self-inference process, whereby familiarity with real concepts leads people to infer they are knowledgeable on the topic, which in turn leads them to infer they also know nonexistent concepts ostensibly related to the topic (Studies 5–7). Our results suggest that informational context systematically affects the tendency to claim knowledge that one cannot have.

Suggested Citation

  • Atir, Stav & Rosenzweig, Emily & Dunning, David, 2025. "When do people claim to know the unknowable? The impact of informational context on overclaiming," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:186:y:2025:i:c:s0749597825000020
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2025.104390
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