Four humors types and Sheldon's types Flashcards
The Four Humors based personality types
The ancient Greeks between 2000 BC to 0 AD, classified four types of humors in people based on the excess of one of the bodily fluids. Some of the names
associated with this view are that of Hippocrates, Galen etc.
Each of the humors corresponded to the individual’s character.
Choleric
The Four Humors based personality types
Character : Irritable
Humour : Choleric
Fluid: Yellow bile
Corresponding trait in the Big 5 : Aggreeableness.
From the above it is seen that persons with choleric humor and dominance of yellow bile will have an irritable personality.
Melancholic
The Four Humors based personality types
Character : Depressed
Humour : Melancholic
Fluid: Black bile
Corresponding trait in the Big 5 : Neuroticism
The person with black bile will be melancholic in humor and the personality associated with this is one depressed personality.
Sanguine
The Four Humors based personality types
Character : Optimistic
Humour : Sanguine
Fluid: Blood
Corresponding trait in the Big 5 : Openness to experience
Calm Phlegmatic Phlegm Neuroticism
The person with black bile will be
melancholic in humor and the personality associated with this is one depressed
personality. Thus humors and bodily fluids made up the type of personality an
individual has.
Phlegmatic
The Four Humors based personality types
Character : Calm
Humour : Phlegmatic
Fluid:Phlegm
Corresponding trait in the Big 5 : Neuroticism
Thus humors and bodily fluids made up the type of personality an individual has.
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
William Sheldon identified three main types of personality called as somatotype in which he called three types of personality viz., endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph.
Endomorph
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
Endomorph is also referred to as viscerotonic and refers to a relaxed character, sociable, tolerant, comfort loving, and peaceful.
Such person’s body build is plump and buxom.
Mesomorph type
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
The mesomorph type of personality is generally an
active type, assertive, vigorous and combative and their body is muscular.
Ectomorph
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
The ectomorph is a quiet type, fragile, restrained , non assertive , sensitive with a body that of lean, delicate and poor muscles.
Ratings
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
No one person is purely of a particular type. There is always a combination of the personality types.
Hence Sheldon further classified a person’s somatotype and giving a rating of 1 to 7 on each of
the three body types.
In this scale 1 indicated very low and 7 indicated very high and in between there were more or less of the types of personality identified.
Examples
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
To give examples, one could state that a stereotypical basket ball player will be
ectomorph (7), endomorph (1) and mesomorph (1).
On the other hand a wrestler like Mohammed Ali will be endomorph (1), mesomorph (7) and ectomorph (1).
More specifically a common man walking on the street would be for instance a lanky individual will have ectomorph (5), endomorph (2) and mesomorph (3).
An example of a person of average height who is moderately muscular will be endomorphic (4), mesomorphic (5) and ectomorphic (3) .
An example of a person with a heavy build, will be ectomorphic (3), mesomorphic (3) and endomorphic (5).
Sheldon measured the proportions of hundreds of juvenile delinquent boys and concluded that they were generally mesomorphs
Critique
Sheldon’s Somatotypes personality
.
Body types have been criticised for very weak empirical methodology and are not generally used in psychology.
The use of somatotyping is more often seen in
alternative therapies and Eastern psychology and spirituality.
Self Asssessment Questions
1) Discuss the Type theory of personality.
2) What are the characteristic features of type theory of personality? How Type Theory of Personality
is it different from trait theory?
3) Elucidate Sheldon’s somatotype personality.
4) Give examples of endomorphic, ectomorphic and mesomorphic type personality.
….
