I believe the level of participation or turnout at the lower levels has nothing to do with bias at certain contests (after all they have not competed long enough to know the difference). Some high level pilots may get out because they can't seem to beat one or more competitors because they believe rightly or wrongly that they are not being judged fairly but I think this is rare and is likely coming from someone looking for an excuse to get out of pattern. As a general rule I know when I fly good and when I don't. I routinely ask judges for feed back after I fly. I'm not in pattern to collect hardware I'm in it to improve my flying and hang out with good friends. I fly a lot more now than I did when I was a sport flyer. Pattern motivates me to go to the field. I've also learned more about the hobby than I ever would as a sport flyer. I've also met a lot of good people that I would have never met as a sport flyer.

Pattern isn't flashy and takes a lot of practice and discipline. In my opinion, those are the reasons why people don't want to particulate.

Most teens would rather chase girls and drive their car than fly pattern.