Deck 9: Religion, Economics, and Social Class

Question 1

Persons ranked high in socioeconomic status are more likely than less affluent persons to

A)pray daily and be devotionalistic in religious orientation.
B)attend church regularly.
C)have had a nonrational religious experience.
D)apply their religious principles to everyday life.
E)all of the above.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following was NOT a part of Weber's idea of the Protestant ethic?

A)delayed gratification.
B)doctrine of predestination.
C)doctrine of vocation.
D)the idea of the priesthood of all believers.
E)doctrine of omniscience.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Self-denial of pleasures now in the hopes of a greater reward in the future is called

A)the doctrine of predestination.
B)the doctrine of vocation.
C)delayed gratification.
D)sanctification.
E)the "priesthood of all believers."

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Weber believed that John Calvin's emphasis on predestination was important because it stressed

A)radical individualism (as one realized that one was strictly on one's own in the matter of salvation).
B)asceticism (as one realized the importance of self-denial for salvation).
C)the priesthood of all believers (as one realized one's obligation to be of service to others).
D)hard work (as one realized that salvation depended on one's own efforts).
E)God's omniscience (as one realized one would be judged for every act).

Question 5

The assertion that "religion is the opiate of the people" is attributed to

A)Emile Durkheim.
B)Rudolph Otto.
C)Max Weber.
D)Rodney Stark.
E)Karl Marx.

Question 6

According to the "Protestant ethic" thesis, the doctrine of vocation defines hard work as

A)a sign of demon possession.
B)a moral and religious duty.
C)a curse.
D)an opiate.
E)a way to achieve upward social mobility.

Question 7

Instead of the causal idea of religious beliefs contributing to change in the economic system, Weber later suggested that a person's current outlook and economic self-interests may attract people to a religious worldview that supports their secular needs.This idea is called

A)elective affinity.
B)the protestant ethic thesis.
C)the iron law of oligarchy.
D)the doctrine of vocation.
E)asceticism.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT true of styles of religiosity in different social classes?

A)Persons with lower socioeconomic standing are more likely to be committed affectively (belonging system) than instrumentally (investment in the formal organization.)
B)Persons with lower socioeconomic standing are more likely to be have a fundamentalist or literalistic theology.
C)Persons with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to attend church regularly.
D)Persons with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to join a church.
E)Persons with lower socioeconomic status are likely to know more about the theology of the church and to know information in the Bible.

Question 9

Jay Demerath and your text authors conclude that

A)religiosity differs in style or mode of expression between the social classes, but not in degree of commitment.
B)religiosity differs in degree of commitment between the social classes.
C)religiosity is more otherworldly and devotional among the upper classes than among the lower classes.
C)religiosity is virtually the same among all social classes.
E)the Protestant ethic caused the rise of capitalism.

Question 10

A study of persons attending a church in a ghetto neighborhood in Los Angles reveals that persons who have been members for five years are financially better off than when they joined, whereas a random sample of persons in the neighborhood who belong to no church tended to be about the same or worse off than five years earlier.In this case, religion would appear to

A)cause or effect other behavior.
B)be affected by other variables.
C)be a form of false consciousness.
D)be a matter of elective affinity.

Question 11

The idea that religion as an institution is a tool by which the affluent keep the poor in their place and justify the current social system as uniquely fair and just is favored by which theoretical perspective in sociology?

A)Open systems theory.
B)Symbolic interactionism.
C)Exchange theory.
D)Conflict theory.
E)Structural functionalism.

Question 12

There are several criticisms of the Protestant ethic thesis discussed in your textbook.Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A)Capitalism was really stimulated by colonialism and the infusing of resources that resulted, not religious beliefs.
B)The rise of capitalism and the Protestant Reformation were coincidental but not causal; the resources for capital investment came largely from Jewish lenders rather than Protestants.
C)If they did contribute to the rise of capitalism, Protestant leaders did so unwittingly, since they tended to view rational pursuit of self interests as contrary to Christian morality.
D)The uniqueness of the correlation of individualism, hard work, and delayed gratification to Protestantism is denied.
E)Weber's assumptions were too deeply influenced by Karl Marx's anti-capitalistic ideology to be credible.

Question 13

The Protestant ethic thesis regarding religious beliefs, economic behavior, and the rise of capitalism was developed by

A)Karl Marx.
B)Emile Durkheim.
C)Rudolph Otto.
D)Max Weber.
E)Adam Smith.

Question 14

In contrast to most of Karl Marx's writings, Weber insisted that

A)economic behavior and economic institutions do not affect religious behavior.
B)economic interests can effect religion.
C)religious ideas can affect economic behavior and economic systems.
D)religion is the opiate of the people.
E)economics is the opiate of the people.

Question 15

People feel more comfortable with persons who are like themselves and, thus, tend to join churches whose members are of their same social background.In this case, religion would appear to be

A)cause or effect other behavior.
B)be affected by other variables.
C)be an opiate.
D)be a form of delayed gratification.

Question 16

The enduring legacy of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is that:

A)it presents a thesis linking the development of capitalism with Protestantism that time has proven to be correct.
B)it has kept a lot of scholars busy writing and debating.
C)it proves that economic self-interests are really the driving force behind most religious values and beliefs.
D)it has taught us to look to ideas and values as important underlying factors that can contribute to change as well as sustaining the status quo.
E)it proves that Protestants, generally, are better citizens and more hard working than Roman Catholics.

Question 17

The case of the Amish (who have a very strong Protestant ethic)

A)shows that a Protestant ethic is sufficient to ensure affluence and upward mobility (though it may not be a necessity).
B)disproves the Weberian Protestant ethic thesis.
C)shows that while certain value orientation might contribute to affluence, it is not sufficient unless other factors are also present.
D)demonstrates that certain religious orientations were necessary and sufficient for upward social mobility in the modern world.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT a part of the doctrine of vocation taught by Martin Luther?

A)The priesthood of all believers.
B)Vocation is a sacred duty in service to God.
C)The call to the priesthood is the most sacred vocation.
D)Labor is an expression of faithfulness to God.

Question 19

For Karl Marx, virtually everything about the social order flows logically and necessarily from

A)ideas.
B)economic factors.
C)religious values and beliefs.
D)technological innovation.
E)conflict between nations rooted in ethnocentrism.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a reason given in the text why denominational affiliation tends to be correlated to social class?

A)The belief system of some denominations may contribute to worldly success.
B)Some people may be attracted to a church because the ideological position of the church is compatible with their own socioeconomic circumstances.
C)Some people may join a church to find people with similar educational levels and other homogeneous characteristics.
D)High birth rates in some denominations are causing downward social mobility.
E)The historical fact that certain ethnic groups, who adhered to certain denominations, were well established financially in this country before other groups arrived.

Question 21

The evidence presented in the text essentially adds up to the conclusion that

A)religion both influences and is influenced by the socioeconomic system.
B)religion influences, but is not particularly influenced by, the socioeconomic system.
C)religion does not really influence the socioeconomic system much, but is influenced by it.
D)contrary to conventional wisdom, there really isn't much of a correlation between socioeconomic status and theology.

Question 22

The idea that people are attracted to a particular religious group because the belief system is compatible with their own social circumstances and needs is called

A)theodicy contingency theory.
B)esthetic harmony theory.
C)apocalypticism.
D)anomie.
E)elective affinity.