Story perspectives
Body Type Bias Persists Despite Discredited Theories
10/23/2025
50 4
1 of 1
Story summary
- The author began a diet change three years ago to gain muscle and identified as an ectomorph.
- William Sheldon defined three body types in the 1940s and linked them to personality traits, including leadership potential.
- Sheldon’s theories emerged alongside the eugenics movement and have since been widely discredited.
- A study from the University of Texas at Dallas shows that prejudices linked to body typecasting are hard to overcome.
