My amateur-psychologist ass thinks about pride. Prideful people love to talk about merit, meritocracy, about "earning" everything they've accumulated, be it wealth or status or whatever. There are people for whom their "achievements" are deeply central to their sense of self-value. And this is entirely understandable, especially in a status- and wealth- and consumerist-obsessed society.
Anything that even remotely suggests there were inherent advantages sort of bestowed unjustly or unfairly to them chips away at that, or threatens that self-worth. And when a person's very identity is threatened, well that is serious ƒucking business.
This can be applied to so many things. Think about the kneejerk reactions some have to discussions of toxic masculinity, for example. For some, their "manliness" is central to their identity, to their sense of self-worth. Any real or perceived threat to that is simply not allowable.
Or criticism of America. For some, being "American" is central to their identity, their sense of self-worth. Anybody who "dishonors", for example, the flag, well ƒuck that.
Pride is a real mess. It's one of my favorite seven deadlies to think about. Identity and self-worth, too. And how our society sort of engineers us to be prideful about some really trivial shit, how it engineers us to frame our sense of self-worth in some truly shitty, destructive, exploitative ways. And all, oddly, to drive consumption.