You are absolutely correct. It's like there's a pool of generic whims that every sim rolls. Stuff like 'buy this or that'. I find emotional whims problematic, but I rarely get whims like "Try for a Baby", "Adopt a Child/Pet", "Potty Train a Toddler", etc.
I give my sims a washer and dryer, they want a wash tub. So I delete the washer and dryer, give them a wash tub, and now they want a washer and dryer. I get it. They want both. Why?
Sims want a hot tub. A pool that's at least 1x1. These are things that...maybe not every sim should want, depending on traits. And yeah, sometimes they do roll whims unique to their traits, but I think there should be more trait whims and less shared whims. Otherwise, it's just another thing detracting from the point of traits.