This is one of the more eloquent definitions I've seen of conservatives. It's exactly how I see them operate.

The fucked up thing is that a lot of the younger ones I've seen recently have that knowledge that their destructive worldviews are messed up, but continue with it out of trauma or some kind of sadism.

I'd guess that many of the older ones have doubled down on that so many times, they can't remember it ever being a decision or up for internal debate. So, they just keep digging their hateful holes in the sand, ready to plunge their heads in any time they hear something that upsets their delicate, irrational, fantasies.