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This paper investigates the phenomena of overclaiming – the propensity for individuals to claim more knowledge about an issue or topic than they really (or could possibly) do. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from nine Anglophone countries and over 40,000 young people, we examine teenagers' propensity to claim knowledge of three mathematics constructs that do not really exist. We find substantial differences in young people's tendency to overclaim across countries, genders, and socio-economic groups. Those who are most likely to overclaim are also found to exhibit high levels of overconfidence and believe they work hard, persevere at tasks, and are popular amongst their peers. Together this provides important new insight into overclaiming, how this differs across groups, and how it relates to other psychological constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial body of research suggests that young people's emotions – both positive and negative – are linked to a wide range of future outcomes. This paper contributes to this literature by investigating the link between young people's positive and negative emotions and their performance in high-stakes examinations. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from England linked to the National Pupil Database (NPD), I investigate how 15-year-olds positive affect, negative affect and fear of failure is associated with the grades they achieve in high-stakes examinations. I find that low levels of positive affect – i.e. pupils rarely feeling happy, lively and cheerful – is associated with a 0.10–0.15 standard deviation reduction in young people's examination grades. On the other hand, little evidence is found of a substantive link between negative affect or fear of failure and examination performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]