Or, to be a bit optimistic, they lack agency. I've noticed in myself and others that when you're stressed/inexperienced/otherwise not-at-ease at work, people s

Or, to be a bit optimistic, they lack agency. I've noticed in myself and others that when you're stressed/inexperienced/otherwise not-at-ease at work, people start behaving defensively. That often turns into this sort of cold-hearted behaviour that people believe is considered professional, even though no competent manager would actually behave that way. It's similar to middle management wearing nicer clothes in the typical signalling theory example.