Personally I think some people have trouble with numbers and this is why they don't like stats or inventory management. One way of figuring this out is sipmly to have a bunch of marbles on the floor and quess how many there're. Those with natural number smarts will guess more accurately. Those who don't guess accurately will struggle more and not enjoy it as much. The exact same part of the brain is used when you're estimating the room in your invenotry, especially volumetric.
I think another aspect to it is attention. It's not tied to OCD, but instead to ADHD or something similar. Those with ADHD don't have attentiont deficity, they have attention disregulation, meaning their attention can be very focused, but on the wrong things! For example, those with ADHD are found to have high levels of focus in gaming, but comparatively low levels of focus in other aspects of life, like school or relationships or normal everyday tasks. They desire (comparatively unchanging) constant stream of high rates of data, like a shooter game or even sports in real llife. Swinging a sword in real life is somewhat the same. I recall reading a theory that ADHD is still in the genetic pool because it gave an advantage to military people or those who needed extreme focus to detect subtle signs of predators. The probelm is this (cognitively low level) extreme amount of focus is not required in a higher level cognitive world where patience and knowledge skills and relationship building and frequent attention changes are necessary.
And you know how some are said to be more left brained or more right brained? Left brained are more logical or numerical or linear. Right brained are more creative and emotional. Maybe this is true and maybe gamers who're ok with resource or inventory management are more left brained? Right brained gamers feel restricted by it.
I found some limited support for this:
http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/2014/07/characteristics-left-brained-child/
The left hemisphere of the brain controls learning and information processing. Children who are left brain dominant tend to be more analytical in their thinking and typically perform well academically. They have a stronger ability to memorize large amounts of data, have a large vocabulary and are detail oriented.
If a child is left brain dominant it usually means areas of the right brain are weak. Those with a weak right brain may be socially immature and have little interest in sports or outdoor activities. This imbalance can lead to behavioral problems and/or social difficulty. However, there is hope!
EDIT: I have to admit I'm usually never bothered by resource management. I might even like it. I don't like extreme amounts of it though. MOO2, for example, had too much micromanagement in late game.
I like building in strategy games. I tend to like building in most games. Sandbox-like. My greatest fun in Tribes wasn't shooting other players, but making the base. That was true in another FPS I played too.
Personally I feel there's an inbetween. It's not all or nothing. Management isn't evil.
