Rice farmers are more collectivist than wheat farmers

🚨 New paper! 🚨 Rice theory = labor and irrigation networks of rice farming causes collectivism, but causality is hard to nail down in the pesky real world. Then THIS happened... https://t.co/J2Kz0R9cGL pic.twitter.com/Y0BZ8iSltb

— Thomas Talhelm (@ThomasTalhelm) April 4, 2024

Abstract from the article linked in the tweet:

The rice theory of culture argues that the high labor demands and interdependent irrigation networks of paddy rice farming makes cultures more collectivistic than wheat-farming cultures. Despite prior evidence, proving causality is difficult because people are not randomly assigned to farm rice. In this study, we take advantage of a unique time when the Chinese government quasi-randomly assigned people to farm rice or wheat in two state farms that are otherwise nearly identical. The rice farmers show less individualism, more loyalty/nepotism toward a friend over a stranger, and more relational thought style. These results rule out confounds in tests of the rice theory, such as temperature, latitude, and historical events. The differences suggest rice-wheat cultural differences can form in a single generation.