Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Traits Attributed To Female Somatotypes, Edward C. Hill

Student Work

The subject of female somatotypes Is one which has been largely neglected. No studies to date have used the female somatotypes. This study of college students measured character traits attributed to the three different female somatotype silhouettes; endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph. Sixty undergraduate students were asked to rate the three female somatotype silhouettes on a list of twentyfour bi-polar adjective scales. In only one case did males and females disagree significantly on what trait should be assigned to a particular body type. The subjects rated the three silhouettes differently on fourteen of the twenty-four adjectival scales. In most cases the male …