Avram, I think we subconsciously elevate as markers of observance things that make us “special”, “different”, thus kashrus and not middos (the weighty ones). Others observed also, for example, that we elevate action over “faith” as a counter-argument to religion that insists on “faith only”.
I would argue that “subconscious” decisions are, in other words, decisions that we did not examine with our logic. Logically, foundational ideas that are shared by the (good part of) humanity are of most importance, and then you build on them with additional refinement. Would people listen to Avraham, if he were obnoxious, rude, and a cheater?