Editing Openai/6973e373-2b8c-800d-84b7-d7001cfc6bac (section)

=== 6) Meta-Cluster 3: the causal empathy constellation (developmental plausibility without certainty) ===

This layer explains why someone might default to Meta-Cluster 1 moves—without claiming you can prove it from the thread.

Common plausible contributors:
* shame intolerance (being wrong feels like being bad),
* identity fusion (correctness = worth),
* environments that reward dominance and punish humility,
* lack of modeling (never seeing people update without humiliation),
* chronic stress/bandwidth depletion,
* insecure attachment patterns,
* social incentives for “performance” over “repair.”

This cluster is:
* plausible,
* not guaranteed,
* and useful for designing interventions.

But it never changes the central enforcement truth:

Causal empathy is not exoneration.