Assessment of the full content of physique stereotypes with a free-response format

A major limitation of physique stereotyping research is that American subjects have used a restricted set of traits provided by the experimenter to evaluate endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs. A free-response procedure was used in Study 1 to identify the full domain of traits associated with each physique. Although many of the traits identified were similar to those used in previous research, a number of new trait dimensions were uncovered. In Study 2, the large number of traits generated with the free-response format was reduced by combining synonyms. This new set of traits was placed in semantic differential format and given to a new sample of subjects to evaluate. The results paralleled those of the first study with the exception that ectomorphs were seen more favorably. This discrepancy, as well as the fact that raters listed trait antonyms within each of the three major physiques in Study 1, suggests the possibility of unique subtypes within the global stereotypes. Examples of these subtypes are proposed.