I'm not saying it's always conscious, or that this applies to everything. But I think it has a lot to do with how you see the world, and whether you have what Carol Dweck would call a growth mindset or a fixed mindset.

I wrote about this a few years ago:

http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-vs-growth-mind...

I think it applies to many things, and too few people are aware of the distinction.