Deck 2: Consumption and Materialism

Question 1

According to the economist Fred Hirsch, a "positional good" is a good or commodity:

A) that places you in a high status position relative to those who don't possess it.
B) that is desirable because of short supply or limited access.
C) that is desirable because it has a high price tag.
D) all of the above.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Who is/was the "original affluent society" according to Marshall Sahlins?

A) Hunter gatherers
B) Agrarian pastoralists
C) The aristocracy of Europe and Asia
D) Wealthy Western capitalists

Answer 2

A

Question 3

All of the following are elements of rational choice theory EXCEPT:

A) interest, especially self-interest.
B) sentiments.
C) the quest for personal gain or advantage.
D) a hidden agenda among rational actors.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The hau of material objects refers to:

A) superstitious belief in animate objects.
B) the utility of material objects that serve our interests.
C) sentimental connections and social relationships embodied in things.
D) the respect we have for tools and technologies created by humans.

Question 5

Of the many techniques advertisers use to persuade customers to purchase goods, which is the most effective?

A) Appeal to sentiments-accentuating affection, love, belongingness, community, patriotism, and other values that may be conferred upon the consumer by acquisition of the product
B) Price advertising-appealing to the financial concerns of consumers
C) "You" or status advertising-suggesting the product is offered out of concern for you and will provide heightened prestige to those who acquire it (the product)
D) Green advertising-appealing to the environmental concerns of consumers

Question 6

Comparing the workload of American workers in 1973 and 2006, the economist and sociologist Juliet Schor concluded that American workers in 2006 worked the equivalent of:

A) one week longer each year than their 1973 counterparts (more than 40 additional hours annually).
B) five weeks longer each year than their 1973 counterparts (more than 200 additional hours annually).
C) one week less each year than their 1973 counterparts (40 hours less a year).
D) five weeks less each year than their 1973 counterparts (200 hours less a year).

Question 7

Juliet Schor estimates that to achieve the standard of living experienced by workers in 1948, U.S. workers today would need to work how long?

A) 4 hours daily
B) 8 hours daily
C) 12 hours daily
D) more than 16 hours daily

Question 8

Although we know that money can't buy happiness, research in Britain and the United States suggests that:

A) unskilled and partly skilled workers at the bottom of the pay scale are happier than other workers.
B) skilled manual workers from lower middle pay scale are happier than better-paid, non-manual, professional workers.
C) middle-class workers are happier than their wealthy counterparts.
D) the wealthy express the least level of happiness with their standard of living.

Question 9

What is the "paradox of a positional economy?"?

A) 1% of the world owns 95% of the world's wealth.
B) Treadmills of production and consumption push individuals in contradictory directions.
C) Treadmills of consumption speed up as more people purchase more.
D) Levels of consumption are constantly devalued as more people attain them due to general economic growth.

Question 10

Identify the fallacy in Douglas and Isherwood's theory of consumption matching?

A) We always strive to maximize our wealth.
B) We always aim to maintain the consumption of those just below us in status.
C) We nearly always attempt to match those just above us in status.
D) We desire to simplify and reduce the complexity of our material lives.

Question 11

What is hau?

A) A social spirit attached to gifts that suggests or requires reciprocity
B) Reciprocal gift-giving
C) A cohesive force in communities
D) All of the above

Question 12

How might the establishment of wildlife refuges and international treaties to protect endangered species actually increase their vulnerability and hasten their extinction?

A) By accentuating their scarcity
B) By driving up their value
C) By making them a "positional good"
D) All of the above

Question 13

Why would an individual who owns a positional good attempt to limit others' access to that good?

A) For positional advantage, status, and prestige
B) To intentional disorient others away from a prestigious position
C) To accumulate advantage
D) To encourage market competition

Question 14

Why does Marshall Sahlins state that hunter-gatherers are the original affluent society?

A) They eat well, work little, and have lots of leisure time.
B) They are rich in terms of meeting their needs.
C) Their material wants are easily satisfied because they don't want much.
D) All of the above.

Question 15

Your text discusses several flaws in Maslow's theory of the hierarchy of needs. Which of the following is one of those flaws?

A) Needs are experienced in hierarchical order.
B) Model has Eastern bias.
C) Theory is too dialogical.
D) Theory can't account for why we consume more than we need.

Question 16

How might the time crunch of contemporary life propel environmental damage?

A) Lack of leisure time requires more pre-made foods.
B) Cycle of work-and-spend increases household tasks.
C) More rest time requires more time-saving tools.
D) All of the above.

Question 17

Interests often refer to:?

A) the original affluent society.
B) the cycle of work-and-spend.
C) how we decide how to spend our time.
D) how we make choices based on material gain for ourselves.

Question 18

Which of the following concepts refer to decisions that do not necessarily result in material gain?

A) Hau
B) Sentiments
C) Community
D) Hierarchy of needs

Question 19

Although it is often argued that consumerism damages the community, it can also enhance community. How so?

A) Consumption is connected to competitive displays.
B) A double message of affluence and ecological dialogue.
C) The time crunch can require communal sharing.
D) Community-building events are often connected to consumerism.

Question 20

Less time for leisure creates a time crunch which necessitates more shopping for necessities and also as a substitute for community. This consumption perpetuates:

A) a dialogical connection between consumerism and the time crunch.
B) environmental degradation
C) workers then purchase more goods because they have less time, thus, consumerism.
D) all of the above.

Question 21

Conspicuous consumption, leisure, and waste are mutually exclusive categories.

Question 22

Every good or material object has a hau.

Question 23

Technological innovations have reduced the U.S. workweek. U.S. employees work fewer hours today than their counterparts did in the 1960s.

Question 24

Despite technological innovation, U.S. workers work more hours per week today than their counterparts did in the 1960s.

Question 25

Each year since 1957 Americans report that they are happier than in the previous year as a result of continued economic growth.

Question 26

The time saving tools used by workers caught in the cycle of work-and-spend often have environmental repercussions.

Question 27

Consumption is not necessary for community, but neither is it antithetical to it.

Question 28

Thorstein Veblen argues that the leisure class engages in vicarious consumption, leisure and waste.

Question 29

Conspicuous consumption, leisure and waste is that which is engaged in based on individuals' environmental power.

Question 30

What did Maslow mean by a "hierarchy of needs?" Describe Maslow's model?

Question 31

Describe a situation that would refute Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory.?

Question 32

Paul Wachtel contends that we try to "buy community." What does he mean by this? What motivates us to do so?

Question 33

The author argues that advertising often appeals to sentiments. How is this connected to vicarious consumption?

Question 34

Juliet Schor argues that Americans are trapped in a cycle of work-and-spend. Explain what she means by this, with examples.?

Question 35

Describe how the treadmill of consumption works, with examples?

Question 36

It is clear that we in the West consume far more material goods than we need physiologically. Based on your readings and material presented in lecture, explain why our wants so drastically exceed our needs. Also, what are some changes that could be made to bring our wants more in line with our needs?

Question 37

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ Abraham Maslow

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 38

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ Thorstein Veblen

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 39

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ Thorstein Veblen

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 40

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ Thorstein Veblen

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 41

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ Fred Hirsch

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 42

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ cycle of work-and-spend

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 43

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ "The Original Affluent Society"

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 44

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ The Theory of the Leisure Class

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 45

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ "The world has enough for everybody's need, but not enough for everybody's greed."

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau

Question 46

Matching: Please match the term, thinker, and/or text with its complement or correspondent , by placing the appropriate identification letter/number in the space provided. (You may use answers more than once.)
-____ sentiments of goods

A) Hierarchy of Needs
B) Leisure class
C) Conspicuous consumption
D) Vicarious consumption
E) Positional goods
F) Treadmill of consumption
G) Marshal Sahlins
H) Thorstein Veblen
I) Mahatma Gandhi
J) Hau