@yurina Seems like they're just leaning on the angle that Espers are more dependant on Guides to function in general, not just if they use their powers.
The social aspect likely has to do with the fact that Guides and Espers have been around for a long time. Meaning there's probably been a large number of tragic events or attacks due to Espers going berserk. Think of it like this: In regarfs to Espers, people having to have lived with soldiers that are armed 24/7 that would suddenly attack people around them for no discernible reason.
Guides on the other hand are able to keep that from happening, seemingly even by force in some cases. People favoring Guides would be a natural consequence of them being able to forcibly suppress Espers.