I agree with this completely. Fear of changing your identity, fear of your beliefs and values being wrong, etc are very powerful. I would, however, suggest that these things all fall under the umbrella of fear of the unknown. Who are you if you change your identity? That's an unknown. What happens if your beliefs and values are wrong? What changes will that bring? What should you believe instead? Unknowns. It's scary.
This is why conservative religion is so powerful. It gives you a set of concrete values to subscribe to, to hold on to, so you don't need to ask difficult questions with unknown answers.
And at the same time - having a certain amount of structure and certainty is what allows us to act and achieve.
True!