Somatotype theory was originally developed by psychologist William Herbert Sheldon
William Herbert Sheldon
William Herbert Sheldon, Jr. was an American psychologist and numismatist. He created the field of somatotype and constitutional psychology that correlate body types with Temperament, illustrated by his Ivy League nude posture photos.
What is Sheldon's theory on body types?
In the 1940's, William Herbert Sheldon associated body types with human temperament types. He claimed that a body type could be linked with the personality of that person.
What is Sheldon’s constitutional theory of personality?
Per Sheldon’s constitutional theory, there are certain personality traits that correspond to each body type. Here they are: 1. Ectomorph Ectomorphs are usually somewhat self-conscious. They enjoy their privacy and like to keep quiet. They’re private people that only let a few close friends into their inner circle.
Does science support the theory of body type theory?
Science does not support that the type of body one has is related to personality traits. Body type theory is a concept developed by William Sheldon in the mid-1940s.
What are somatotypes according to Sheldon?
Each type is said to have distinct physical and metabolic characteristics. Sheldon describes his theory on somatotypes alongside his thoughts on constitutional psychology in his 1953 book, Atlas of Men.
What is William Sheldon's body type theory?
While studying criminology, Sheldon declared that there were three basic body types that correlated with personalities: the ectomorph, a skinny, scared and shy person; the endomorph, a round, happy and genial person; and the mesomorph, a muscular, outgoing and often attractive person.
What were Sheldon's three body types?
In Sheldon's system humans were classified as to body build in terms of three extreme body types: endomorphic, or round, fat type; mesomorphic, or muscular type; and ectomorphic, or slim, linear type.
What is the strongest body type?
Mesomorphs are the best body type for bodybuilding. They find it quite easy to gain and lose weight. They are naturally strong which is the perfect platform for building muscle.
What is the best body type to have?
Mesomorph: This body type is generally considered the ideal body type. Individuals usually look lighter and have a more rectangular bone structure, longer limbs, thinner bones and a flatter ribcage. A mesomorph has a natural tendency to stay fit and achieve muscle mass very easily.
What are the three body types?
People are born with an inherited body type based on skeletal frame and body composition. Most people are unique combinations of the three body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph.
What does Sheldon Cooper suffer from?
Sheldon often gets talked about in terms of Asperger's or OCD. He has a thing with germs, he has a thing with numbers, he's got a lot of that precision that we see in OCD. There's a lot of interesting features to all of our characters that make them technically unconventional socially.
What somatotype did Sheldon find to be the most criminal?
After extensive research it has been stated that Sheldon classified or implied that the mesomorphic body type individuals (those of the big bone and muscular shape), were more prone to committing violent and aggressive acts, and therefore criminality is rooted in biology, when compared to the other two body types and ...
Early Somatotypology
Attempts to correlate body composition with certain personality traits has a legacy dating to antiquity in many parts of the world. One early example of early somatic typology is Hippocrates theory of the four humors.
Constitutional Psychology
Constitutional psychology is a systematic attempt to account for such psychological variables as temperament and character in terms of bodily shape and functions. Somatotypes both fall under the larger umbrella of constitutional psychology and were influenced by the development of the field.
Research Studies
Although Sheldon’s correlation between physique and temperament has been discredited, people still judge the personality traits of different body types in a stereotypical manner. Wells and Siegel (1961) set out to determine how people perceive the personalities of different somatotypes.
