Deck 23: Collective Behaviour and Social Movements

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of the types of crowds discussed in the text?

A) casual crowd
B) acting crowd
C) lasting crowd
D) conventional crowd

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A collectivity involves a large number of people

A) with minimal interaction and few well-defined norms.
B) who know each other well.
C) who interact in a formal setting such as a college classroom.
D) who are members of a well-defined social group.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The concept "gossip" refers to

A) statements that are untrue.
B) beliefs that are widespread.
C) rumours about people's personal affairs.
D) widespread attitudes about controversial issues.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Collective behaviour is difficult to study because

A) it involves only one particular kind of behaviour.
B) it is often transitory-that is, it is brief and passing.
C) it is always violent.
D) people object to being watched.

Question 5

Almost all of the 100 known lynchings of women involved

A) Asian women.
B) Mexican women.
C) White women.
D) Black women.

Question 6

Because of their intense emotion, mobs

A) can be violent and destructive.
B) tend to last a long time.
C) include people who get to know one another.
D) are usually passive and observe basic social norms.

Question 7

A riot differs from a mob in that the riot

A) is not usually violent.
B) typically has little focus or no clear goal.
C) involves fewer people.
D) is not as common in Canadian history.

Question 8

Convergence theory states that people in crowds

A) make their own rules as they go along.
B) carry a plan for their behaviour into the crowd.
C) behave in surprisingly "normal" ways.
D) are taken over by the contagious emotions of the crowd.

Question 9

According to contagion theory, crowds have a(n) ______________ effect on their members.

A) calming
B) hypnotic
C) enraging
D) emotional

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of a local collectivity?

A) family members quietly reading in their living room
B) excited soccer fans throwing bottles as they leave a stadium
C) two people holding hands as they walk through the woods
D) groups of people discussing the issues of the day on an internet forum

Question 11

Ordinary people can gain __________ by acting collectively.

A) wealth
B) power
C) absolutely nothing
D) fame

Question 12

Mass behaviour is defined as collective behaviour

A) in the form of a riot or a mob.
B) involving people in a crowd.
C) among people spread over a wide geographic area.
D) involving powerful emotions.

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of mass behaviour?

A) a riot
B) a rumour
C) a mob
D) a crowd

Question 14

Contagion theory states that people in crowds

A) make their own rules as they go along.
B) carry a plan for their behaviour into the crowd.
C) behave in surprisingly "normal" ways.
D) are taken over by the spreading emotions of the crowd.

Question 15

Emergent-norm theory states that people in crowds

A) make their own rules as they go along.
B) carry a plan for their behaviour into the crowd.
C) behave in surprisingly "normal" ways.
D) are taken over by the contagious emotions of the crowd.

Question 16

A highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal is a

A) riot.
B) acting crowd.
C) fad.
D) mob.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a form of collective behaviour?

A) a fad
B) mass hysteria
C) a deviant subculture
D) public opinion

Question 18

A New Year's Eve celebration in a public nightclub is an example of which kind of crowd?

A) protest crowd
B) conventional crowd
C) expressive crowd
D) casual crowd

Question 19

Which of the following is a good example of a crowd?

A) many people walking on a city street who stop to observe an auto accident
B) many people who are graduates of the same college
C) a few people who gather at a city park every Saturday to play tennis
D) a few people who live in the same college dorm

Question 20

Collective behaviour involves action that often

A) is planned.
B) involves a large number of people.
C) is commonly accepted.
D) involves individuals more than large groups.

Question 21

Today, social movements develop around any number of

A) widely held beliefs.
B) controversial public issues.
C) national goals.
D) commonly accepted political agendas.

Question 22

The War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938 created an example of which phenomena?

A) mass hysteria
B) collective effervescence
C) propaganda
D) gossip

Question 23

"Widespread attitudes about controversial issues" is the definition of which of the following concepts?

A) public opinion
B) gossip
C) rumour
D) propaganda

Question 24

Hula hoops, streaking, and Pokemon cards are all examples of

A) fads.
B) fashion.
C) style.
D) social movements.

Question 25

In pre-industrial societies, social movements

A) were quite rare.
B) were typically about economic issues.
C) commonly took the form of rioting.
D) were more common than they are today.

Question 26

Historically, there have been three major dynamic sources of social change in Canada. Which of the following is NOT one of these three?

A) race relations
B) class relations
C) the multicultural nature of our society
D) regional identity

Question 27

Of the various types of social movements, which are least threatening to the status quo?

A) alternative social movements
B) redemptive social movements
C) reformative social movements
D) revolutionary social movements

Question 28

Fashion differs from a fad in that fashion

A) is shorter lived.
B) is less conventional.
C) reflects established cultural values.
D) denies established cultural values.

Question 29

"Mass hysteria" is another name for

A) acting crowd.
B) casual crowd.
C) moral panic.
D) fashion.

Question 30

Which type of social movement seeks radical social change, but only in some people?

A) alternative social movements
B) redemptive social movements
C) reformative social movements
D) revolutionary social movements

Question 31

Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, is best thought of as an example of which of the following types of disasters?

A) natural disaster
B) technological disaster
C) intentional disaster
D) supernatural disaster

Question 32

The fears about the possibility of a meteor hitting the earth could easily give rise to which of the following?

A) a conventional crowd
B) a moral panic
C) a protest crowd
D) a fad

Question 33

The enormous oil spill by the tanker Exxon Valdez in 1989 is an example of which of the following types of disasters?

A) natural disaster
B) technological disaster
C) intentional disaster
D) supernatural disaster

Question 34

The genocide that took place in the Darfur region of Sudan is an example of which of the following types of disasters?

A) technological disaster
B) natural disaster
C) intentional disaster
D) supernatural disaster

Question 35

Kai Erikson explains that disasters harm people in a way the public often fails to realize by

A) destroying property.
B) killing people.
C) breaking down people's communities.
D) disabling communications networks.

Question 36

Social movements are defined as

A) unlawful activity in the form of rioting.
B) widely dispersed efforts to force people to conform.
C) any formal organization that uses propaganda.
D) organized activity that encourages or discourages social change.

Question 37

Sociologists say that people in pre-industrial societies typically conform to a "style." By contrast, they point out that members of modern societies conform to

A) nothing at all.
B) the same styles as in the past.
C) fashion and fads.
D) familiar throwbacks to their youth.

Question 38

The atomic tests near Utrik Island in 1954 was a disaster for the 159 people who lived there. Kai Erikson explains that this disaster

A) brought the people together in a good way.
B) never really had an ending.
C) was completely fixed by the U.S. government within a few days.
D) showed how it is possible to predict and prepare for disasters.

Question 39

Which of the following concepts refers to efforts to shape the public's attitudes on some issue?

A) fashion
B) gossip
C) mass behaviour
D) propaganda

Question 40

Thorstein Veblen used the concept "conspicuous consumption" to refer to which of the following?

A) doing things in public instead of in private
B) consuming expensive things to show off one's wealth
C) boycotting certain products as a form of protest
D) trying to look more socially disadvantaged than you really are

Question 41

In what way do "new social movements" differ from those in the past?

A) They are more likely to be international.
B) They are likely to focus on economic rather than social issues.
C) They are unlikely to attract support from middle- and upper-middle-class people.
D) They are likely to be local.

Question 42

Which of the following is the best example of an issue that defines a "new social movement"?

A) poverty in the United States
B) global warming
C) the strength of labour unions
D) the conditions of immigrant farm workers in the Southwest

Question 43

Neil Smelser developed __________ theory.

A) structural strain
B) mass society
C) resource mobilization
D) convergent norm

Question 44

One stage in the life of a social movement is called "coalescence." This stage refers to which of the following?

A) the emergence of the movement
B) the movement defining itself and "going public"
C) developing a capable staff to keep the movement operating
D) the decline of the movement

Question 45

Deprivation theory states that social movements arise among people who

A) feel adrift in society.
B) have plenty of money and other resources.
C) feel they lack enough income, power, or human dignity.
D) mobilize around cultural symbols.

Question 46

The stage of a social movement called "bureaucratization" refers to

A) the emergence of the movement.
B) the movement defining itself and "going public."
C) developing a capable staff to keep the movement operating.
D) the decline of the movement.

Question 47

An example of the importance of gender in social movements is the fact that

A) few women are interested in most public issues.
B) men have taken most leadership roles in social movements.
C) men tend to avoid participation in social movements.
D) women typically have taken leadership roles in social movements.

Question 48

What is the reason that social movements decline?

A) They haven't accomplished their purpose.
B) They suffer a loss of resources, including motivated members.
C) The existing power structure strikes them down.
D) They become mired in bureaucracy and simply cannot function.

Question 49

The concept of relative deprivation is based on the idea that

A) people evaluate themselves by making specific comparisons.
B) some people have more than others.
C) people always judge their situation in absolute terms.
D) getting more makes people feel better about themselves.

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT one of the six factors in structural strain theory that encourages the development of social movements?

A) lack of social control
B) structural strain
C) precipitating factors
D) structural exclusion

Question 51

Resource-mobilization theory states that social movements require

A) a cultural symbol.
B) money and other necessary resources.
C) a sense of relative deprivation.
D) advanced technology.

Question 52

Efforts by activists to get the public to recognize the danger of AIDS in the early 1980s is a good example of what process related to social movements?

A) formalization
B) moral panic
C) claims making
D) structural strain

Question 53

Structural-strain theory claims that social movements

A) have a single cause.
B) begin when there is widespread agreement that society has some serious problem.
C) do not come together as a result of some precipitating factor.
D) are isolated incidents of individual communities, and not a problem for society at large.

Question 54

A strength of political economy theory is its

A) focus on the individuals involved in social movements.
B) focus on relative deprivation.
C) emphasis on weak social ties among individuals.
D) macro-level approach.

Question 55

Which theoretical approach states that social movements depend on rallying around symbols?

A) mass-society theory
B) deprivation theory
C) resource-mobilization theory
D) culture theory

Question 56

The political economy approach to social movements is closely linked to which of the following social thinkers?

A) Max Weber
B) Neil Smelser
C) Karl Marx
D) Thorstein Veblen

Question 57

Mass-society theory predicts that social movements will involve people who

A) are socially isolated.
B) have sufficient resources to launch and sustain them.
C) feel they lack enough income, power, or human dignity.
D) mobilize around cultural symbols.

Question 58

Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization that seeks to help alcoholics achieve a sober life, is one example of which type of social movement?

A) alternative social movements
B) redemptive social movements
C) reformative social movements
D) revolutionary social movements

Question 59

Which type of social movement seeks radical change in all of society?

A) alternative social movements
B) redemptive social movements
C) reformative social movements
D) revolutionary social movements

Question 60

Which of the following is a valid criticism of new social movements theory?

A) Economic issues are still involved in most such movements.
B) Few middle- and upper-middle-class people join social movements.
C) Few social movements are international in scope.
D) Economic issues are rarely involved in any social movements.

Question 61

Disasters and mobs are both examples of collective behaviour.

Question 62

Looking ahead, social movements are likely to

A) make use of less computer technology.
B) focus less on the global and more on the local.
C) involve minorities and other marginalized people, who will seek a greater political voice.
D) evaporate, as society becomes more tight-knit and disparate groups conform to a sympathetic society.

Question 63

Fashion and fads, riots, crowds, mass hysteria, and public opinion are all types of collective behaviour.

Question 64

According to Georg Simmel, trendsetters are usually people from the lower class.

Question 65

Unlike a mob action, a riot usually has a clear goal.

Question 66

Convergence theory suggests crowd behaviour comes from the people who join the crowd.

Question 67

Some riots are fuelled by hate, but some riots are caused by positive emotions.

Question 68

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) Only 20 percent of Canadians believe that, financially, the lot of the average person is getting worse.
B) Ninety percent of Canadians have a great deal of faith in our federal and provincial leaders.
C) A majority of Canadians do not trust politicians.
D) Eighty-six percent of Canadians feel stressed because life is beyond control.

Question 69

C. Wright Mills noted that many of the problems we encounter as individuals are caused by

A) the ignorance of the individual.
B) the structure of society.
C) social movements.
D) the individual being too lazy to look for work or seek appropriate help.

Question 70

Propaganda, by definition, involves statements that are false.

Question 71

Collective behaviour is generally easy to explain.

Question 72

Convergence theory claims that crowds can have a hypnotic effect on participants.

Question 73

In industrial societies, traditional style gives way to changing fashion.

Question 74

While gossip may spread throughout a society, rumour is localized.

Question 75

Only a handful of actual mob lynchings in the United States have ever been documented.

Question 76

One type of crowd can easily change into another type.

Question 77

People sitting on a beach are one example of a casual crowd.

Question 78

People in crowds who act emotionally are not necessarily acting irrationally-there may be a good reason for the strong emotion.

Question 79

Contagion theory was proposed by Gustave Le Bon.

Question 80

To a passing observer, all types of collective behaviour appear very much the same.