I've been reading Determined by Robert Sapolsky. He mentions a study about the behavioral differences on average between peoples that come from rice-growing and wheat-growing regions of China. When two chairs were placed obstructively in a Starbucks, people from rice-growing regions would move around the chairs, whereas those from the wheat-growing regions would move the chairs. The explanation given is that rice-growing requires intergenerational cooperation to be tenable, and he highlights an example of terraces that were found to be maintained for over 2000 years. On the other hand, he notes that the US consists of a largely immigrant and pioneer populations, which are selected for individualism.

It's important to note that neither of the cultures are 'better', and that also within populations there are great individual differences. In the chair example, the middle ground would be to consider the chairs a Chesterton's Fence (Why were they placed there? Is it to cover a spill?)