The 7 body types (or somatotypes): what are they?

What is your body type? Several theories provide the keys to somatotypes.

The concept of somatotype or somatic type is well known in the world of physical exercise and nutrition, but also in the history of psychology.but also in the history of psychology.

The concept was developed by psychologist William Herbert Sheldon in the 1940s. However, its predecessor was Ernst Kretschmer, who tried to relate the biotype and psychotype of individuals, that is, he investigated and claimed to find connections between body composition and temperament.

Like any morphopsychological theory, Kretschmer's theory received a lot of criticism, and nowadays it has been largely left behind.and it is now largely outdated and refuted. Nevertheless, Sheldon's somatotypes are still very popular today, especially in the fields of sports and nutrition, to roughly describe types of physical constitution. In other words: although they do not provide information about people's behavior, they help to "summarize" their body measurements from an anthropometric point of view.

Kretschmer's biotypes (body types)

In the 1920s, Kretschmer, a German psychiatrist, decided to study and investigate the relationships that may exist between morphological structure and human temperament. As a sample for his studies, he chose mentally ill people with different pathologies: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder...

With the results he obtained, he established three types of basic body constitutions, and one representing mixed and disproportionate groups. They are the following:

• Leptosomatic or asthenic.
• Athletic or epileptoid
• Pyknic or cyclothymic
• Dysplastic

Below you can find a description of these body types and the psychological characteristics that according to this author were associated with each one.

1. Leptosomatic or asthenic.

These people have a slender-shouldered body, are tall, with a narrow thorax, elongated face and nose, and a convex skull. and convex skull. They have an introverted personality, with adaptation difficulties. They are sentimental, speculative individuals, with an interest in art.

According to the author, they have a schizothymic temperament, and their character oscillates between hypersensitivity and coldness. These people are more prone to suffer from a serious mental disorder called schizophrenia.

2. Athletic or epileptoid

Epileptoid individuals have a strong body in both musculature and bone.. They are more energetic and aggressive. Due to their robustness, they are strong, determined, adventurous and stand out for being quite passionate and sentimental, but also brute. They are impulsive and prone to epilepsy.

3. Picnic or cyclothymic

These are people, who are short in size but very robust, have a rounded body, with voluminous viscera.They have a rounded body, with bulky and fatty viscera. They can be bald, with little muscular development. They are intelligent people, with a cheerful and jovial character. They present oscillations in their state of mind, because they can go from being very excited and happy to sad and depressed. Pnicnic individuals are not very constant in their activities, and can be both optimistic and pessimistic. These people are more prone to suffer from bipolar disorder.

4. Dysplastic

These individuals have a disproportionate body and do not fall into any of the above categories.. At the psychological level these subjects do not have a defined character, but within this group it is possible to find people with a weak or schizoid character.

Criticisms of Kretschmer's Theory

Although Kretschmer inspired other authors such as Sheldon, this typology has received strong criticism. Much of which points out that:

• The types are extremes and not averages.
• By being extreme, they divide individuals drastically and neglect many individual differences.
• It does not take into account the physical changes that can occur due to dietary changes.
• Their research is biased because they used sick subjects and not normal individuals.

Attempts to link human body measurements to psychological traits are now generally considered to be unfounded.

Sheldon's somatotypes

Unlike the previous author, Sheldon conducted his research with normal subjects. This author was a professor at Harvard University. He began his research in 1928 and published the results in 1940. He used more than 4,000 male students, and then conducted his research with females.

Sheldon's idea was different from Kretschmer's. He first investigated somatotypes and, separately, sought to find out their correlation with personality traits and temperament, which according to him are as follows: the somatotypes of the body, the personality traits and the temperament of the body.He then went on to investigate the correlation of somatotypes with personality traits and temperament, which according to him are: viscerotonia, somatotonia, and cerebrotonia. His results indicate that in 80% of cases there is a correlation between endomorphism and viscerotonia, between mesomorphism and somatotonia, and between ectomorphism and cerebrotonia.

In the following, we will go deeper into Sheldon's somatotypes; once again, the psychological characteristics associated with these body types are only the author's proposals, currently rejected by the scientific community (although the terms he used to describe the physical constitution of people are still used in disciplines such as Sports Science).

1. Ectomorph

These are tall, thin and weak people.. That is, they are individuals with few muscles and relatively lighter bones than other body types. Ectomorphs are easy to spot because they are thin, their limbs are long and they are usually tall. They rarely gain weight. In terms of personality, they are emotionally sensitive people, who can suffer emotional problems and mood swings easily.

2. Endomorph

The body of the endomorph is rounded and as a main characteristic they are people who have a natural tendency to accumulate fat in the abdomen in the case of men and in the hips in the case of women.. The endomorph is very sociable by nature, fun, relaxed and good-natured. They love food and usually provide great company.

3. Mesomorph

The mesomorph is the most balanced of the three somatotypes because their body is made up of a balanced combination of Muscle and bone.. These individuals have an athletic shape, with well-defined muscles and proportionate bones. They have a short stature but a robust build. Personality-wise, the mesomorph is well-balanced, very energetic, likes sports and adventures and has no problem doing physical activities. The mesomorph is highly tolerant and not as sensitive compared to the ectomorph.

Some clarifications on Sheldon's somatotypes

Leaving aside the psychological aspect of the theory which has been much criticized, the above somatotypes represent extremes. However, in his studies, Sheldon achieves these somatotypes by studying five elements of the body (head, thorax, legs, etc.) separately and then adding them together to achieve these somatotypes.

But apart from these extreme body types, Sheldon's theory does not rule out certain nuances in this categorization. In real life there are more than three somatotypes, and it is easy to find a perfect ectomorph, but also a mesomorph who has fat like endomorphs, so this individual would be a combination of two extreme somatotypes and would share characteristics of both body types.

Bibliographic references:

• Baten, J.; Komlos, J. (2004). Looking Backward and Looking Forward: Anthropometric Research and the Development of Social Science History. Social Science History. 28: pp. 191 - 210.
• Carter, J.E.L.; Heath, B.H. (1990). Somatotyping-development and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Sheldon, W.H. (1940). The Varieties of Human Physique: An Introduction to Constitutional Psychology. New York: Harper.