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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Under what conditions does Veblen say that members of the industrial class will fight?
(a) He says they will fight for almost any reason.
(b) When someone's honor has been insulted.
(c) When they are angry or drunk.
(d) When they want to settle a score.

2. What does Veblen say that the leisure-class and lower-class delinquents have in common, along with their belief in an unseen hand?
(a) An excessively strong adaptiveness in spiritual matters.
(b) An inability to commit to productive labor.
(c) An inclination to devout observances.
(d) A refusal to stray from orthodox practices.

3. What does Veblen say is the most serious occupation of the leisure class?
(a) Distribution.
(b) Innovation.
(c) Government.
(d) Production.

4. What does Veblen say the act of worshiping appeals to?
(a) The sense of communal devotion.
(b) The desire for order.
(c) The sense of status.
(d) The need to be dominated.

5. How does Veblen say contestants in sporting events demonstrate their belief in luck?
(a) By wearing talismans.
(b) By offering sacrifices.
(c) By saying prayers to fortune.
(d) By performing rituals.

6. What does Veblen say fighting does for lower-class delinquents?
(a) Veblen says that it culls the weak.
(b) Veblen says that it asserts manhood.
(c) Veblen says that it threatens the upper classes.
(d) Veblen says that it settles property disputes.

7. According to Veblen, women in the leisure class are partially exempt from what?
(a) Familial pressures.
(b) Pecuniary pressures.
(c) Spiritual pressures.
(d) Cultural pressures.

8. What does Veblen call learning?
(a) Participation in class distinction.
(b) Sympathetic magic.
(c) Submission to eternal truth.
(d) Delight and instruction.

9. What does Veblen cite as an example of gambling in organizations designed for devout observances?
(a) Dating nights.
(b) Church raffles.
(c) Bingo.
(d) Donations to charities.

10. What promotes the predatory aptitudes and predatory animus?
(a) Ownership.
(b) Industrial labor.
(c) Pecuniary employments.
(d) Craftsmanship.

11. What age does Veblen say worshiping corresponds to?
(a) The peaceful age.
(b) The antepredatory age.
(c) The barbarian age.
(d) The industrial age.

12. What does Veblen say God represents in the anthropomorphic creed?
(a) THe spirit of cooperation.
(b) The heart of compassion.
(c) The habit of dominance.
(d) The meekness of men.

13. According to Veblen, ethnic types during his time were variations of what?
(a) Antepredatory types.
(b) Primitive ethnic types.
(c) Peaceable types.
(d) Predatory types.

14. What does Veblen mean by exoteric knowledge?
(a) Knowledge of skeletons and underlying structures.
(b) Knowledge of geology and planetary physics.
(c) Knowledge of social status and tradition.
(d) Knowledge of the industrial process.

15. Whose traits does Veblen say the leisure class propagates?
(a) The Romans'.
(b) Its children's.
(c) The traits it generates out of itself.
(d) Earlier cultures'.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which ethnic type does Veblen say has more predatory traits?

2. Whose theories influenced Veblen's ideas about selective adaptation?

3. What is the state of the institution with regard to the present moment?

4. Why do existing institutions foster the propagation of a particular type of person?

5. Under what heading does Veblen put sports and fighting and other manifestations of the predatory temperament?

(see the answer keys)

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