I live in a very conservative neighborhood and can say that stubbornness seems to play a huge, huge part of it. But I also wouldn’t discount the insecurity that plays into a lot of conservative men as well. The kind that buys huge trucks, just to commute to an office job. The kind that tries overly hard to impress you in weird “manly” ways, like always having a beer in their hand when they know you’re coming over for something.
Basically half the guys around here are either stubborn dickheads who do things like refuse to tell their wives when they’re going out of town for work - and the other half are dudes constantly trying to validate their manhood by projecting a flimsy aura of toughness. Frankly, it’s exhausting.