My own personal view of conservatism is *I have got mine, why should I care about anyone else?* We all have it in varying degrees. The converse happens with liberalism. Conservatism is just a PC way of saying I am a selfish schmuck. People can be conservative in one context and liberal in another.
The motivations for it are different. Some are racist, tribal, greed etc. But its essence is limiting the availability of a perceived advantage or value from whoever one considers the other. Preventing the *other* from becoming part of the in group. It becomes extreme when that self interest starts to threaten the whole like what's happening in the US now.