Culture, empathy and moral development

At one level it is no surprise, but it is good to see confirmation of the notion that culture may affect moral development and even national or regional characteristics. "Although studies of children have shown that the ability a person to appreciate another person's perspective is universal, not all societies encourage their members to develop the skill as they grow up."
One of the things that this suggests for me is that the Christian idea of being salt and light in society has value in the potential to influence a culture towards a situation where a greater proportion of its members think and act in ways that respect the rights and perspectives of others, for example. It's not just wishful thinking; it can be achieved. Of course, historically speaking there is evidence to support this, but to realise that acculturation affects people at very profound levels which have direct daily entails is quite significant. Different cultures really do involve different brain structures in a sense.
ScienceDaily: Americans Trail Chinese In Understanding Another Person's Perspective: