I don't think it works if the family has moved a lot. By moved I mean country to country, not city to city. Even a German moving to America and living in a German enclave will end up with different attitudes.
It probably has more to do with the admiration of ancestral traits that you want to emulate. If you found out your ancestors were cannibals, would you want to cook up your neighbor? Hmmm,...come to think of it, there is a neighbor, I'd like to eat.
