I think you might be on to something with the empathy but I don't think it's as naive as "I don't work well at home so these other people can't work well from h

I think you might be on to something with the empathy but I don't think it's as naive as "I don't work well at home so these other people can't work well from home." I think it's much more likely something like "I don't work well from home, so if I'm in the office I will do better. If we're fully remote, I will do worse in my career, get fewer/smaller raises, miss a promotion, etc. I will have more success in the office so I will fight for everyone to be in the office." If other people perform worse in the office it just means those that prefer that environment will do that much better in their careers. Especially as you get into higher management levels, your coworkers are also your competitors - if the guy in the office next to you gets a promotion, you don't get that promotion.