QUESTION 1 (34 Marks)
Read the following statement and answer the question to follow:

Mr Leguma, a social psychologist who lives and works in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape, writes about the social issues surrounding black people in Cape Town, Western Cape.

Explain why Mr Leguma is not authentic to the social psychologist title.(9 marks)

Discourse is viewed as written or verbal communication that transcends the sentence itself. It does not only focus on the language but also the socio-cultural and socio- political landscape in which the language exists. It goes beyond the literal meaning, to include all other factors that impact language and the associated meaning attached to words and phrases.

To answer the following question, watch the YouTube video below:

Productivity Guy. 2020. What is common sense. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from

Write an essay discussing the impact of language and discourse and point out how “common sense” is often taken for granted. (25 marks)

In your answer:
• Discuss the impact of language and discourse.

• Discuss how common sense is taken for granted and why some people can identify things more easily than others.
• Provide examples of concepts, situations or experience that is common sense to you, but others may have been unfamiliar with.

QUESTION 2 (20 Marks)

Read the following extract as well as included article to answer the question:
We often fall short in teaching about “race as a social construct.” We use this phrase to teach that race is a set of ideas about human differences rather than an irrevocable fact of human biology. Because race is taken to be a kind of biological fact by our students, teaching that race is “a social construct” works as a discursive strategy to shake their thinking. But we seem to forget our own, most basic anthropological knowledge—that all ideas beyond the idiosyncratic are “social constructs” insofar as they are shared cultural knowledge. Unless we are prepared to explain how human beings are to abandon the most basic cultural instinct—creating categories to explain the world—then we need to say something more about “race” if we are going to argue against its applicability in explaining human diversity. A more complete argument is needed, such as race is 1) a social construct that is 2) poorly descriptive of the phenomenon it seeks to describe and 3) has a long history of devastating consequences for individuals. The first part of this argument dislodges race from the realm of irrevocable biological fact. But it is the second and third parts of the argument that give us reason to seek alternative ways of understanding and describing humanity. If we only teach that “race is a social construct,” we also run the danger of reinforcing the false dichotomy that social and cultural phenomena are somehow fictional, flexible, made-up and unreal, whereas biological phenomena are presumed to be factual, irrevocable and real. Race is a very real social construct with very real consequences, not to be dismissed lightly.

The New York Times:
Onwuachi-Willig, A. 2016. Race and Racial identity are social constructs. Retrieved from

Using the two sources above and the prescribed material, write an essay reflecting on the social constructionism viewpoint of race and racism.

In your answer:
• Discuss race and racism as being socially constructed.
• State whether your views on the socially constructed concept of race have been shifted because of your educational journey.
• Explain how your views on the socially constructed concept of race have been impacted during your further educational journey. (20 marks)

QUESTION 3 (30 Marks)

Read the following case study and answer the questions to follow:
Prior to the Soweto Uprising, Kamogelo, a black teenager, from Soweto, dreamed of being a lawyer. He dropped out of school to protest against Apartheid and started working shortly after. Kamogelo needed to financially assist his single mother to ensure his seven brothers and sisters did not go to bed hungry.
After Apartheid ended, Kamogelo hoped to raise enough money to attend night school and university. Sadly, he could not raise enough funds due to the constant inflation rise and family bills. Kamogelo worked tirelessly to find a higher-paying job to provide for his family. Still, sadly, he needed to have the qualifications or experience to find a decent-paying job. This is not only an issue experienced by Kamogelo, but also by others in his community.
Since he lived in an unsafe community- that had an unfair reputation, employees would often look down on him and automatically assume he would be an unreliable and unrealistic fit for their organisation. They would automatically assume that was incapable and potentially dangerous- not only because of the colour of his skin, but also his residential area.
Thirty years later, Kamogelo owns his own business and is able to provide for his siblings as well as his own immediate family. He has a wife and two children, Betsy and Lerato. They have subsequently moved to a better neighbourhood in Johannesburg. Kamogelo and his wife have sent their children to prestigious private schools in the surrounding neighbourhoods to ensure they have better exposure to opportunities than they did growing up.
Besty and Lerato often wear wigs and purchase skin-lightening creams to make themselves “more appealing” to the boys at their school. Their mother says they need to act “white” to marry a rich white man.

Identify and discuss the type of racial oppression impacting identity according to Fanon displayed in the case study above. (10 marks)

Explain why you chose the type of racial oppression impacting identity above by referring to the case study. (5 marks)

Using Fanon’s theory of racial oppression against identity, identify and discuss the concept being displayed by Betsy and Lerato. Refer to the case study to substantiate your answer. (15 marks)

QUESTION 4 (16 Marks)

Access the following article and read the question to follow:

News24:

Jadezweni, A. 2018. Most black women embrace their natural hair, but it’s also okay if you choose to relax your afro. Retrieved from

Using the prescribed material and the article above, determine the mode of psychological defence displayed in the article above. Support your answer by drawing from examples from the article. (8 marks)

Define Self-schemata’s according to Markus. (4 marks)

Using the definition above, explain how the remnants of the past are interwoven into your self-schemata and how it is being shaped by modern society. (4 marks)

Answers to Above Questions on Psychology

Answer 1: On the basis of the information given in the above scenario, Mr Leguma is not appropriate to be considered as authentic with respect to the title of a social psychologist. This is mainly because of a number of reasons and the most significant one is geographical discrepancy, lack of formal qualification, biasness and objectivity, lack of transparency etc.

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