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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which aspect of culture was a condition for the development of a leisure class?
(a) A predatory nature in the community.
(b) Representative government.
(c) Competition for resources.
(d) An ethic of sharing.

2. What clothes should members of the leisure class wear?
(a) Clothes that indicate that they are friendly with their tailors.
(b) Clothes that indicate that they inherited their money.
(c) Clothes that indicate that they do not work.
(d) Clothes that indicate that they work because the want to.

3. What employments did upper-class people in Iceland and Polynesia work in?
(a) Management, service jobs, and newspapers.
(b) Government, military, and the ministry.
(c) Investment banking and diplomacy.
(d) Arts, music, and entertainment.

4. What happens when men come into wealth through peaceful means?
(a) Property becomes an indicator of success.
(b) Property becomes the measure of spiritual values.
(c) Property becomes an indicator of heritage.
(d) Property becomes the subject of competition and warfare.

5. What is reserved for the leisure class?
(a) Travel.
(b) Luxuries like jewelry.
(c) Owning property.
(d) Possession of slaves.

6. What gives an item its desirability to men of the leisure class?
(a) Efficiency.
(b) Utility.
(c) Beauty.
(d) Expensiveness.

7. What classes does Veblen describe emerging as society developed?
(a) Blue-collar and white-collar classes.
(b) Proletariat and bourgeoisie.
(c) Industrial and nonindustrial classes.
(d) Workers and parasites.

8. To whom does the requirement of excessive clothing apply most?
(a) Women.
(b) Servants.
(c) Owners.
(d) Children.

9. Vicarious consumption reflects whose standing?
(a) The servant's.
(b) The worker's.
(c) The patron's.
(d) The slave's.

10. Which cultures exhibited the leisure class?
(a) Migratory American Indians.
(b) Primitive Indonesia.
(c) Postindustrial America.
(d) Feudal Europe.

11. What does consumption yield to the individual?
(a) Status.
(b) Utility.
(c) Reputation.
(d) Wealth.

12. What are the standards of consumption determined by?
(a) Conspicuous waste and workmanship.
(b) Industrial production.
(c) Physical comfort.
(d) Class mobility.

13. What does Veblen say causes the emergence of crimes against property?
(a) The emergence of money.
(b) The development of debt.
(c) The sanctification of property.
(d) The exploitation of labor.

14. How does Veblen classify industrial labor in industrial societies?
(a) As men's work.
(b) As women's work.
(c) As work that does not produce food or shelter.
(d) As work done by machines.

15. How does Veblen define conspicuous consumption?
(a) Vulgar or unnecessary displays of wealth.
(b) The display of wealth in front of witnesses to wealth.
(c) A refined set of mannerisms displayed while consuming status symbols.
(d) An act of consumption that involves more than one person.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Veblen say a woman's dress indicates about her spouse?

2. What spiritual need does clothing serve for people?

3. What allowed a leisure class to emerge?

4. What is the relationship between manners and class?

5. How do the clergy indicate the honor of their employment?

(see the answer keys)

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