Chinese people i know quite well are not very good at self-refection:

if several different people point out a particular flaw (like a short temper) to me i don't respond with the standard:

"It's not me, it's you" answer and pout childishly

I stop and take a look at myself and ask why i am behaving like that, then try to change my response.

in a group it can be more difficult.

it is difficult to be the one to want to change a behaviour at the risk of not 'fitting-in' or conforming (you can also say disrupting the harmony of the group)

it takes courage to stop being a sheep.

the constant need for validation/acceptance by the group around is ultimately destructive to any development as an individual.

so you have to decide, as i do, which do you want to be: an individual who grows and matures, exploring the infinite possibilities of the world, or a clone who plays it safe?

looking hard in the mirror is the most difficult part, as you might not like what you see.

Destruction is not always a bad thing. Trees, for example, shed their leaves in winter. But that destruction lays the fertilizer for the next generation. Self destruction for the greater good. Flowers go to seed. Again, destruction for rebirth. The hopeless alcoholic who dies in the gutter...point to him and tell your kids not to be like him. Live your life dude. Its not a rehersal. If you spend your life worrying about things that might be bad for you, you might have a long time to regret not doing the things you wish you had done when you had the chance.

A person, or a group of person can act against his/its own interest for several reasons, that are not mutually exclusive:

* Short-term self-protection behavior, that is harmful on long-term. You prefer to deny reality because it avoid putting yourself in question and possibly weakening your own self-confidence for a while. Of course, fighting reality can be victorious only for a limited time.

* The rule of a single party with a messianic mission (heading to some fuzzily defined utopia) that exploits that insecurity to justify its harsh rule : "it's us or the bad times will come back". In that setting, education and culture are tools to keep people deluded and insecure and unable to free themselves from their delusions and insecurity..

* "Tragedy of the commons" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

* "Prisoner's dilemma" : A variation on the same thematic, but reduced to two peoples instead of a population competing for resources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma

We are short-term, local-scale creatures. We tend to not see long-term effect and large scale effects, simply because we have a local view of our lives. Education is the key... and not being scared to face reality and oppression.

I think you got OCD wrong. It is much more than just what you describe. It doesn't have to be destructive per say, but forced behavior people cannot not do. E.g. check if the toaster is off before leaving home even though not having used the toaster for days. 

Walking backwards while beating different body parts. Looks like a straight case for OCD, but in fact is probably just ignorance and poor education. What is OCD in the minds of us westerners is likely just a result of brainwashing and ignorance. And to the Chinese, we are probably doing lots of weird shit too, like drinking cold water. 

I knew this guy in Gisborne, New Zealand who was as OCD as OCD gets. One morning he bought an automatic roller to level out his lawn because he thought the property was on a lean and that the house would gradually sink (he lived in state housing). He spent the next three days chewing up all of the grass and churning mud all over himself until the motor gave out. After this, he spent the next week trying to rethread a seatbelt which he took apart.

The price of mutton was fluctuating quite considerably at one point so one day when I paid him a visit, I opened the refrigerator to get the milk for our cups of tea and a found a half of a side of mutton in the bottom of it, uncovered. He got a whole side because the price had dipped so much and he wanted his money to go as far as possible. The next week it was pig's head. He'd adapt well to here, actually.

Thanks for all the answers so far. I need to stop being online and go out to meet friends and play!!!