This numerical approach has gone on to be incorporated in the current sports science and physical education curriculums of numerous institutions, ranging from the UK's secondary level GCSE curriculums (14- to 16-year-olds), the Indian UPSC Civil Service exams, to MSc programs worldwide, and has been utilized in numerous academic papers, including:
#Ecto meso endo body type series#
This variant utilizes the following series of equations to assess a subject's traits against each of the three somatotypes, each assessed on a seven-point scale, with 0 indicating no correlation and 7 indicating a very strong correlation:Įndomorphy = − 0.7182 + 0.145 x − 0.00068 x 2 + 0.0000014 x 3
This formulaic approach utilises an individual's weight (kg), height (cm), upper arm circumference (cm), maximal calf circumference (cm), femur breadth (cm), humerus breadth (cm), triceps skinfold (mm), subscapular skinfold (mm), supraspinal skinfold (mm), and medial calf skinfold (mm), and remains popular in anthropomorphic research, according to Rempel: "with modifications by Parnell in the late 1950s, and by Heath and Carter in the mid 1960s somatotype has continued to be the best single qualifier of total body shape". Sheldon's physical taxonomy is still in use, particularly the Heath–Carter variant of the methodology. Mesomorphs, in contrast, are typically stereotyped as popular and hardworking, whereas ectomorphs are often viewed as intelligent yet fearful.
According to one study endomorphs are likely to be perceived as slow, sloppy, and lazy. There may be some evidence that different physiques carry cultural stereotypes, as some cultures are more prone to certain physiques. Sheldon's "somatotypes" and their associated physical and psychological traits were characterized as follows: SomatotypeĬharacterized as skinny, weak, and usually tall with low testosterone levelsĭescribed as intelligent, gentle and calm, but self-conscious, introverted and anxious.Ĭharacterized as naturally hard and strong, with even weight distribution, muscular, thick-skinned, and as having good posture with narrow waistĭescribed as competitive, extroverted, and tough.Ĭharacterized as fat, usually short, and having difficulty losing weightĭescribed as outgoing, friendly, happy and laid-back, but also lazy and selfish The three types Comparison of Sheldon's body types The system of somatotyping is still in use in the field of physical education. In a late version of a pseudoscientific thread within criminology in which criminality is claimed to be an innate characteristic that can be recognized through particular physiognomic markers (as in Cesare Lombroso's theory of phrenology), Sheldon contended that criminals tended to be 'mesomorphic'. From type number, an individual's mental characteristics could supposedly be predicted. In his 1954 book, Atlas of Men, Sheldon categorized all possible body types according to a scale ranging from 1 to 7 for each of the three somatotypes, where the pure endomorph is 7–1–1, the pure mesomorph 1–7–1 and the pure ectomorph scores 1–1–7. Sheldon and Earnest Hooton were seen as leaders of a school of thought, popular in anthropology at the time, which held that the size and shape of a person's body indicated intelligence, moral worth and future achievement. The foundation of these ideas originated with Francis Galton and eugenics. Ĭonstitutional psychology is a theory developed by Sheldon in the 1940s, which attempted to associate his somatotype classifications with human temperament types. Later variations of these categories, developed by his original research assistant Barbara Heath, and later by Lindsay Carter and Rob Rempel, are still in academic use.
#Ecto meso endo body type skin#
He created these terms borrowing from the three germ layers of embryonic development: The endoderm, (which develops into the digestive tract), the mesoderm, (which becomes muscle, heart, and blood vessels) and the ectoderm (which forms the skin and nervous system). Somatotype is a theory proposed in the 1940s by the American psychologist William Herbert Sheldon to categorize the human physique according to the relative contribution of three fundamental elements which he termed somatotypes, classified by him as ectomorphic, mesomorphic, and endomorphic. For the mathematical concept, see Endomorphism.
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