Early theories assumed that personality was expressed in people’s physical appearance. One early approach, developed by the German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) and known as phrenology, was based on the idea that we could measure personality by assessing the patterns of bumps on people’s skulls (Figure 12.1, “Phrenology”). In the Victorian age, phrenology was taken seriously and many people promoted its use as a source of psychological insight and self-knowledge. Machines were even developed for helping people analyze skulls (Simpson, 2005). However, because careful scientific research did not validate the predictions of the theory, phrenology has now been discredited in contemporary psychology.
Another approach, known as somatology, championed by the psychologist William Herbert Sheldon (1898-1977), was based on the idea that we could determine personality from people’s body types (Figure 12.2, “Sheldon’s Body Types”). Sheldon (1940) argued that people with more body fat and a rounder physique (endomorphs) were more likely to be assertive and bold, whereas thinner people (ectomorphs) were more likely to be introverted and intellectual. As with phrenology, scientific research did not validate the predictions of the theory, and somatology has now been discredited in contemporary psychology.
