Is it them vs. Us, or do we just think it’s them vs. Us?

Abstract Social identities shape our worldview and influence information processing. Some categories of social identity (such as political partisanship or college football fans) are intrinsically competitive. Others (such as religions or ethnicities) are not always competitors but may be viewed as competitors by some group members. We examine social identities and use the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) to examine decision making. We manipulated the tasks such that a flag from the US, UK, or China was visible near risky or safe choices. We find that the presence of a rival symbol and individual levels of nationalism both influence decision making when the advantageous decision is unclear. These findings suggest that some forms of (non-competitive) identity bias can be mitigated, but that others will persist as individuals always perceive group competition.