May 20, 2014

Social Research 
Wheat and Rice Cultivation Have Deep Cultural Impacts

Experiment outcome : 
When research subjects were asked to draw diagrams depicting their social networks, people from rice-growing and wheat-growing regions tended to respond differently: Those from rice areas drew themselves as smaller (in relation to their friends) than wheat-area people did !  
Possible Reason : 
The finding suggests that rice farming, which requires extensive social coordination, creates a culture of collectivism. 
Sample Size and landscape : 
Talhelm surveyed 1,162 university students in China, where rice is grown mostly in the south and wheat is raised and eaten in the north.
Courtesy : Research by , Thomas Talhelm of the University of Virginia and reported in The Atlantic.

SOURCE: Does Growing Rice Make You Less Individualistic?