Somatotypology (Sheldon)

Somatotypology was developed by American psychologist William Herbert Sheldon in the 1940s. By studying thousands of college student photographs, he identified three extreme body constitution types and mapped them to three temperaments. Sheldon's work sparked fierce debate: it was used both for constructive applied programs and for pseudoscientific racial justifications, which long defined the system's ambiguous reputation.

The three somatotypes: the ectomorph — a slender, elongated body with minimal fat and muscle — corresponds to cerebrotonia (introversion, reserve, inclination toward mental activity); the mesomorph — an athletic, muscular body — is associated with somatotonia (activity, dominance, risk-taking); the endomorph — a rounded, soft body with a tendency to accumulate fat — corresponds to viscerotonia (sociability, relaxation, pleasure-seeking). A real person is described by a three-digit number (for example, 1-7-2), reflecting the degree of expression of each component.

Modern science acknowledges that no rigid direct connection exists between body type and temperament: genetics, lifestyle, and nutrition can substantially alter constitution, and personality is shaped by a multitude of factors. Nevertheless, the idea that biological constitution predisposes certain tendencies continues in applied medicine (especially sports science) and integrative medicine under other names.

In the Errarium atlas, somatotypology occupies a place among somatic methods alongside palmistry (#7) and physiognomy (#14). Its fundamental distinction lies in the attempt to create a quasi-scientific biological basis for typology, which brings it closer to Big Five (#3) in its claim to objectivity while strikingly differing in methodology: there, questionnaire statistics; here, visual body classification.