I suspect the absense of free functions in Java (which is frequently the first language taught at universities) is a big reason this antipattern is prevalent.
That brings back frustrating memories of moving to Java from day one at university and trying to get up to speed. I remember a bunch of "tips" spreading around the computer lab, all related to IDE and language quirks, in a 100 level class. I hope this isn't still the case, 20 years later? It kind of spoiled me for Java, which made life difficult later when I joined a FOSS project which was built in Java.
After that experience I found returning not even just to functions but also e.g. Pascal procedures was pretty refreshing.
