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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the consequences for democratic societies when conformity exists?
(a) Dominance over others is encouraged and rewarded.
(b) Too much trust in the community and dominance over others.
(c) Too little information is shared with society.
(d) Distrust of infomation and a willingness to believe what is told to you.

2. What assumptions about man are made that lead people to fear chaos if he acts only in accordance with himself?
(a) People assume man needs more freedom.
(b) People assume man will follow others.
(c) People assume man is bad and will act destructively.
(d) People assume man will make the best decisions, all the time.

3. What forces in a capitalistic society isolate people?
(a) Religious forces.
(b) Social forces.
(c) Familial forces.
(d) Economic forces.

4. What does the social character influence?
(a) The individual's desire for freedom.
(b) The democractic system.
(c) The social progress.
(d) The economic process.

5. Why does Fromm suggest analyzing psychological mechanisms in individuals?
(a) He uses it to draw conclusions about the group(s) one belongs to.
(b) It helps understand society.
(c) Fromm believes it will lead to more freedom.
(d) It enables man to improve himself.

Short Answer Questions

1. What German class of people was most likely to submit to Nazism?

2. What is the term Fromm uses to describe an individual act that does not compromise one's integrity?

3. When he first came to power, which social class did Hitler favor?

4. What type of character was familiar to the lower, middle class?

5. What world event left Germany in financial ruin and ultimately fostered support for Hitler among the lower, middle class Germans?

Short Essay Questions

1. What characteristics describe the first group of Germans who supported the Nazis?

2. How does the loss of identify affect an individual's willingness to conform, and what are the consequences for it?

3. What is true freedom and what do Fromm's critics fear it can lead to?

4. Why was Nazism so appealing to the lower middle class of Germans?

5. What two choices does a person have when confronted by isolation and fear in achieving freedom?

6. What role does character play in the individual and society?

7. How does a democratic society put pressure on individuals to conform?

8. What is authority, as defined in the chapter "Mechanisms of Escape"?

9. What traits of an authoritarian character did Hitler possess?

10. What is social character?

(see the answer keys)

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