I think that's a negative bias. The majority of people behave rationally and while they may speak negatively in public, internally they will understand the pattern.

We have a tendency to put too much value in what people say rather than how they act. I'm confident actions would reflect people understanding their value in a transparent world, even if their words did not.

I agree. Over the decades I have worked with a few below average engineers who were so deeply arrogant they simply refused to believe they weren't God's gift to engineering.

This is a small minority though.