Deck 10: Social Class in the United States

Question 1

_____ is respect or regard.

A) Status consistency
B) Power
C) Prestige
D) Status inconsistency

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The money that someone receives, usually from a job, business, or assets, is referred to as

A) capital.
B) property.
C) wealth.
D) income.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

_____ is material possessions.

A) Wealth
B) Property
C) Income
D) Power

Answer 3

B

Question 4

June was the president of her neighborhood association, which in that group afforded her a high

A) status inconsistency.
B) status.
C) degree of wealth.
D) status consistency.

Question 5

Marx's model of the social classes included

A) managers.
B) workers.
C) petty bourgeoisie
D) royalty

Question 6

What percentage of the nation's wealth is owned by the wealthiest 1% of Americans?

A) 1%
B) 10%
C) 35%
D) 93%

Question 7

Which occupation has the most prestige in the United States-physician, banker, actress, or plumber?

A) Physician
B) Banker
C) Actress
D) Plumber

Question 8

_____ is the ability to carry out your will, even over the resistance of others.

A) Social class
B) Status
C) Power
D) Prestige

Question 9

The total value of everything that someone owns, minus debts, is

A) income.
B) property.
C) wealth.
D) power.

Question 10

Status consistency refers to

A) day-to-day stability.
B) ranking high or low on at least two dimensions of social class.
C) ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class.
D) lateral mobility.

Question 11

_____, according to Weber, is (are) a large group of people who rank close to one another in property, power, and prestige.

A) Status consistency
B) Social class
C) The proletariat
D) Capitalists

Question 12

If we use the analogy that some U.S. families have an income that could be represented by the height of Mount Everest, then the average American family has an income that is about _____ feet off the ground.

A) 3
B) 15
C) 700
D) 4,000

Question 13

What percentage of the nation's wealth is owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans?

A) 10%
B) 22%
C) 58%
D) 77%

Question 14

Income and wealth are

A) different terms for the same thing.
B) often confused.
C) related in the same way that output is related to input.
D) related in that if a person has a lot of one, they are certain to have a lot of the other.

Question 15

Wright Mills called the top people in U.S. corporations, the military, and politics who make the nation's major decisions the

A) power elite.
B) intelligentsia.
C) nation's finest.
D) bourgeoisie.

Question 16

In 2013, the highest-paid U.S. CEO received

A) $950,000.
B) $3 million.
C) $21 million.
D) $77 million.

Question 17

_____ is Wright's term for a position in the class structure that generates contradictory interests.

A) Contradictory class locations
B) The proletariat
C) Inconsequential others
D) Capitalist

Question 18

Ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others is called

A) status inconsistency.
B) prestige.
C) status consistency.
D) limited power.

Question 19

In tracking income in the United States from 1935 to 2013,

A) income inequality has decreased since 1970.
B) income inequality has increased since 1970.
C) nothing has changed.
D) income equality has steadily increased since 1935.

Question 20

Durkheim called it _____ when people become detached from the usual norms that guide their behavior.

A) frustration
B) the underclass
C) politics
D) anomie

Question 21

Lee started as a bank teller and 15 years later ended up running the bank. This is an example of _____ mobility.

A) upward social
B) intergenerational
C) downward social
D) lateral

Question 22

Which statement is true about people toward the bottom of the class structure?

A) They are more likely to be politically active.
B) On economic issues, they are conservative.
C) They are less likely to be politically active.
D) They walk the same political paths as the rich.

Question 23

In his modification of Marx's model of social classes, Wright added

A) workers.
B) capitalists.
C) managers.
D) clergy.

Question 24

_____ refers to the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next.

A) Structural mobility
B) Exchange mobility
C) Intergenerational mobility
D) Anomie

Question 25

Who is at the top of Wright's modification of Marx's model of social classes?

A) Workers
B) Petty bourgeoisie
C) Managers
D) Capitalists

Question 26

Compared to the working class, the lower middle class generally has

A) less prestige.
B) a higher income.
C) the same attributes.
D) a lower income.

Question 27

Homeless people are part of the

A) working poor.
B) working class.
C) underclass.
D) lower middle class.

Question 28

The class most shaped by education is the _____ class.

A) upper middle
B) lower middle
C) working
D) upper

Question 29

Philanthropist Bill Gates has given away

A) $30 million.
B) $100 million.
C) $3 billion.
D) $30 billion.

Question 30

Members of the _____ tend to think of themselves as having "real jobs" and regard the "suits" above them as paper pushers.

A) underclass
B) working poor
C) working class
D) upper middle class

Question 31

Most members of the working poor class

A) are high school dropouts.
B) are really lower middle class people who are unemployed.
C) have spent some time in college.
D) have earned a bachelor's degree.

Question 32

As you go up the social-class ladder, what happens to your health?

A) It improves.
B) It stays the same.
C) There is no change.
D) It worsens.

Question 33

As you go down the social-class ladder, what happens to your mental health?

A) It improves.
B) It stays the same.
C) There is no change.
D) It worsens.

Question 34

When it comes to religion, the lower classes tend to be attracted to

A) more subdued worship.
B) more expressive worship services and louder music.
C) the Episcopalian denomination.
D) the nearest church.

Question 35

The upper end of the capitalist class is occupied by those

A) with old money.
B) who are philanthropists exclusively.
C) with new money.
D) with the highest level of happiness.

Question 36

When it comes to child rearing, lower-class parents tend to focus more on

A) developing their children's creative skills.
B) encouraging their children to question authority.
C) getting their children to follow rules and obey authority.
D) developing their children's leadership skills.

Question 37

In Mexico, Javier was a physician. Javier emigrated to the United States and ended up working as a carpenter (which had been his hobby in Mexico). Javier experienced _____ mobility.

A) downward social
B) upward social
C) intergenerational
D) exchange

Question 38

White-collar crimes are likely to be dealt with

A) by the police.
B) by the courts.
C) outside the criminal justice system.
D) by prison sentences.

Question 39

Based on the histories of lottery winners, sudden wealth brings

A) only pleasant consequences.
B) a threat.
C) many genuine offers of friendship.
D) guaranteed happiness.

Question 40

Seth did menial work-mostly house cleaning-when he could find it. He had been homeless for a year, and since then simply did not have a good enough employment record to find a regular job. He relied on welfare, a subsidized rental, food stamps, and even the occasional visit to a food pantry to supplement his work income. In terms of class, Seth would belong to the

A) working poor.
B) underclass.
C) working class.
D) lower middle class.

Question 41

The region of the United States that has the most poverty is the

A) South.
B) North.
C) West.
D) East.

Question 42

Most of the poor

A) live on welfare.
B) are single mothers and their children.
C) live in the inner city.
D) are less educated.

Question 43

The reason why families headed by a mother, rather than by a mother and father or a father alone, are more likely to be poor is because

A) two-parent families are more stable.
B) women average only 72% of what men earn.
C) women have less education.
D) women are less inclined to work if they have children.

Question 44

_____ mobility is movement either up or down the social class ladder due more to changes in society than to the actions of individuals.

A) Structural
B) Upward
C) Downward
D) Intergenerational

Question 45

What are the four characteristics of jobs that have the most prestige?

Question 46

In _____ mobility, many people move up the social class ladder, and many move down, with the social class system showing little change.

A) downward
B) structural
C) exchange
D) upward

Question 47

Discuss research on women in studies of social mobility.

Question 48

Name three effects of social class on family life.

Question 49

Which statement about poverty is true?

A) Poverty is unusual.
B) Most poor people are poor because they do not want to work.
C) More children than adults are poor.
D) There is more poverty in urban than in rural areas.

Question 50

The official measure of poverty of the U.S. government is

A) called the poverty line.
B) kept secret.
C) five times a low-cost food budget.
D) nine times a low-cost food budget.

Question 51

Discuss the impact of geography on poverty in the United States.

Question 52

Describe the underclass.

Question 53

What proportion of all African American adults works at white-collar jobs today?

A) One-fourth
B) More than one-half
C) Two-thirds
D) More than three-fourths

Question 54

It is likely to be painful to

A) go up the social ladder.
B) go down the social ladder.
C) move on the social ladder, either up or down.
D) remain at the same spot on the social ladder.

Question 55

Going without something in the present in the hope of achieving greater gains in the future is called

A) the geography of poverty.
B) deprivation.
C) deferred gratification.
D) immediate gratification.