I think it's a combination of several factors. The first is brain structure. As neurologists show, conservatives and liberal brains can be differentiated by the time they are 16.

Conservatives respond with the Amygala, more concerned with survival and threats. The primitive brain doesn't do complex reasoning.

Liberals use the grey matter, looking at problems through the use of complex reasoning. Conservatives cannot do that. Their brain structure doesn't allow it.

Then, there is the culture. They are socialized to believe that they genuinely earned their success, although they were born into the upper crusts. They genuinely believe that people who are not successful and rich are simply not smart, not working, etc. They genuinely believe this.

Their understanding of economics is that simplistic. They cannot conceive that the world is not that simple. It all goes down to brain structure.