OK PilotDAR, I will give you my theory on why some pilots find a 40 degree flap landing in a C172 to be "unnatural" - it's all about the PAPI and ILS.
I routinely land a C172 with 40 degrees of flap, and the resulting approach angle (even if we are carrying some power) is MUCH steeper than 3 degrees. If you are landing at a small grass strip, that is both good practice, and great fun. But, on a large runway with a PAPI at the side, you have to agree that the glideslope indications - and the "feel" of looking steeply at the first hundred feet of another two miles of runway is somehow contra indicated. So, people who learn to fly on those runways are in the habit of dragging the C172 down a long 3 degree glideslope with 20 degrees of flap and a lot of power.
Tha's my theory anyway....