> there are other people who just complain because they want attention.

I would say that people who complain generally do it because they are not happy. Nobody purposely do it as a way to get attention. Nobody says "I will make sure to bother everybody so that they hate me, because I love it".

Doesn't mean they are not the problem: sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. So I join you on:

> Good managers listen and try to understand the difference between a person complaining because they’re closer to the problem and a person complaining because they are the problem.

I have seen people complain because they somehow hated their coworkers (they had a very different view of what "good code" meant). A good manager would look for a solution, like moving them in different teams. A bad manager doesn't act (it's useless to listen if you don't act on it).