What are the types of individuals according to Sheldon's physiognomy theory?

Answer 1

William Sheldon has presented a unique body-type-temperamental model that represents a link between anatomical/psychological traits and characteristics of an individual with his behaviour. Sheldon identifies some relationship between the physique types of individual with his behaviour. Sheldon identifies some relationship between the physique types of individuals and their personality temperaments. He identifies three body types: (i) Endomorph: He is bulky and beloved. The person seeks comfort, loves fine food, eats too much, jovial, affectionate and liked-by-all persons. (ii) Mesomorph: He is basically strong, athletic and tough. He is fond of muscular activity; he tends to be highly aggressive and self-assertive. (iii) Ectomorph: These people are thin, long and poorly developed physically. Through physically weak, he leads the league in the intellectual department. He is labelled as absent-minded, shy but brilliant. One potential pitfall of this theory is the inherent generalization. According to Sheldon there is a link between physiological traits and characteristics of an individual with his behavior. There are basically three types. Endomorph He is bulky and beloved. Sheldon argued that the endomorph tends to be rather fat, thick in proportion to his height. Such a person seeks comfort, eats too much, jovial, affectionate and liked by all persons. He is even tempered, shows a relaxed posture, reads slowly and is tolerant of others and easy to get along with others. He prefers to be led than to lead. Mesomorph He is basically strong, athletic and tough. His physique is appreciated by all. In fact, it is this personality all other “morphs” wish for. According to Sheldon, such a person seeks lot of muscular activity; tends to be highly aggressive and self-assertive. He can run faster, smile brighter and beats alone the two “morphs” together. He tends to be noisy, courageous and seeks lot of outdoor activity. He desires action, power and domination. Ectomorph Ectomorphs are thin, long and poorly developed physically. Such a person displays retraint, inhibition and desire for concealment. He tends to be distrustful of others. He works well in closed areas. He reacts over quickly, sleeps poorly and prefers solitude, when his mind is troubled. Also be prefers not to attract attention to himself. Typically, he is anxious, ambitious and dedicated. According to Sheldon, most physiques are a mixture of three components. One important limitation of this theory is the inherent generalization. There is almost a natural tendency on the part of many people to typecast every person into one category or another. Though a down-to-earth classification of real people is unreliable and impossible, Sheldon’s theory provides a rough sketch of extreme forms of personality traits on the basis of which generalizations can be done, though not with cent percent accuracy.