A number of readers asked if the association between body type and temperament could be altered by losing or gaining weight. For example, can a skinny ectomorph assume some of the personality traits of a mesomorph by lifting weights and putting on muscle? Or can a fat endomorph do the same by losing fat and toning up? Likewise, can a mesomorph become less insensitive by getting fatter or skinnier? Being able to do so would seem to discredit the idea that body type and personality are biologically linked.
My answer to them is a qualified yes, based on nothing more than drawing conclusions from real world test cases mixed with a bit of educated speculation and adjustment of premises.
First, body type is not based on your weight. Or, it’s not supposed to be. It’s based on your skeletal frame, which is unalterable (except in small degrees by intensive weightlifting or PED use). A mesomorph may gain fat or lose muscle, but his generally larger, broader frame will stay the same. Similarly, an ectomorph can beef up in the gym, but his wrists and ankles will never be naturally thick around like a classic endomorph’s or mesomorph’s wrists and ankles.
Therefore, the premise itself is shaky. Weight may change, but bone structure remains the same. And if the bone structure is the same, then the link with one’s personality is the same as well.
Second, a large gain of muscle (or a loss of fat) can psychologically influence a man’s self-perception and boost his confidence, leading to a concomitant temperament change. This can occur despite there being no alteration of the biological link between his frame size and his temperament. We are adaptation maximizing animals, after all.
Those objections aside, I answer the readers with a qualified yes, because I do think the underlying biological connection between body type and personality can be fundamentally altered. The simple explanation is testosterone. Fat is a known T suppressor/estrogen increaser, so an endomorph who sheds fat cells will experience the effects of a hormonal boost of T. An ectomorph who puts on muscle will feel better and more confident from the increase in his T. These are deep, biological changes, not ephemeral psychological alterations, that will lead to personality changes.
Caveat: the changes aren’t going to be large. You can’t change the intrinsic contours of your personality wholesale by raising your T, because we are gradually learning that a lot (50% or more) of our personality is genetically conditioned, stamped in our cortical rivulets as permanent etchings from conception. But you can make changes around the edges, pushing yourself in one direction or another. Testosterone isn’t the only way to do this. Changes in status have also been shown to alter personality. If you are looking to improve your success with women, even a small, say 10%, change in your personality to one that is more outgoing or confident will bring huge pussy benefits relative to what you were accustomed to enjoying.
Let’s get back to game!
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This is an importance facet of game. Many guys have reported leaps and bounds of improvement in their reception by women from dedication to bodybuilding/athletics.
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Every man should strive to develop his physical and mental capabilities to their fullest potential.
But that is not game. Game is maximizing results with what one has here and now.
Waiting to improve oneself physically and mentally is just an excuse for not beginning the frightening trial-and-error process of learning game.
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It’s not nearly as frightening if you increase your testosterone first.
Any boost to your T is a boost to your game.
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Aint that the truth.
Game is just about certainty. “Game” is providing the feeling and environment for certainty to occur, which is all (people not just women) want. Understand of game hasn’t gotten to that level yet (as girl-game is still just youchnbeauty or bodymods+) but there will be a time.
Acting in accordance with your body type is a level of subconscious certainty that makes you “real”.
There are stories attached to each extreme:
Endo: “Abundance Game” (Look at allllll the shit we do when were together with everyone)
Ecto: “Us vs The World/Were right they are wrong”(We know the secret. Why don’t they?)
Meso: “YOLO” oololololzolzolzololzolzolzololzolzollzolzolozlolzolzozlozlz
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well written post
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Excellent points! It may also be the case that the very act of working out and thus being in control of your state would make one be more confident and proactive in general, better at pushing themselves because change is possible. This is somewhat circular though, because only the ones who have it in them to really push themselves (“go against their nature”) like that in the first place would experience the benefits, while the ones who think that there’s no point/it’s not important enough would also think that way in other circumstances (and would probably not be here to learn about game and such in the first place).
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As an endomorph trying to become an mesomorph, I agree that your personality can change along with your body. As I thin out and get stronger, I see myself reacting to situations naturally as an alpha, where before I would have gone the beta route; my confidence is way up, and I tend to be way more selective about the people I’m around, especially women.
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So from what I take is about personality…the foundation is based off your bone structure, but it can be tweaked by either mentally telling yourself to have confidence, working out, and/or status promotion.
The possibilities are endless no matter what your personaility type is.
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Body type isn’t necessarily contingent solely on frame. Your genetics also determine your base level of muscle mass, how your body partitions calories between storing fat and building muscle, and the types of muscle fibers (fast-twitch, slow-twitch).
And the psychological changes linked to muscle building, while having something to do with testosterone, also come from the cognizance that the athlete is capable of greater effect on his environment. A lot of people link their physical performance to their overall level of power as a man, whether it makes a difference or not.
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Definitely agree. To possess the means to cause great harm or kill, to be dangerous can cause an ego to reach heights unknown. The cognizance of such things around average people makes one feel like another breed entirely, a superhuman.
High T, weight lifting, some kind of combat training….these things completely changed my personality from introverted ectomorph to extreme outgoing self amused with a lean muscled out frame that has matured over 12 yrs of physical training and combat competition..
And linking physical performance with overall power seems intrinsic to a man’s nature.
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you mention that sheldon’s somatype’s are described in their extremes and that these should be adjusted for racial / cultural / religious aspects of an individual as required, etc… can you please elaborate on this? perhaps, in regards to socially well adjusted blacks, westernized asians or jews who don’t wear the holocaust as their identity? great posts.
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Contrast is king.
Being a muscly mesomorph with the looks of an ex-con who wears expensive clothes and being seen doing charity work for disabled children will send a 5-mile radius wave of intrigue. Even more if your pic is shown on some website that the whole city reads. This is a first hand information.
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Like you said, CH, the key is how much of change can actually take place.
I have a buddy who was/is endomorphic with all the traits Sheldon ascribed to it. Several years ago he was diagnosed with MS and dropped a ton of weight, yet he’s maintained his endomorphic temperament. The guy still doesn’t quite know why he’s so good with women and kids. All I know is ALL is ex’s still love him. In fact, one of them just relocated back to our town hoping to steal him from his current lady.
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There would be more factors contributing to increases in testosterone than lower body fat. There was a study on barn swallows involving the use of ink to alter the color of male swallows breast feathers (the darker red these feathers are, the more attractive they are to females). There’s a lot of reciprocal things going on between the psychological/physiological here.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/for_barn_swallows_feathers_make_the_man_says_cu_boulder_study
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We born ectomorphs are late bloomers, as CH noted. In my 40’s I hit the gym aided by some mild legal ‘roids and buffed up a very nice set of muscles that have stayed on with reasonable maintenance regime but no more roids. 6’1″ and 200 lb and steady into my early 60’s.
My external behavior did shift towards mesomorph although my thinking patterns are relatively unchanged. I suspect the relative muscle mass is the personality driver and not the bone structure. One’s protein untake increases as does the energy needed to exercise the muscle.
We need to remind ourselves that there are very few pure types. We’re all blends in this scheme and some of use are pretty evenly balanced.
For another post will be discussions of the relative virtues of femmale types. CH obviously loves him the ectomorph type woman while I like a meso/endo blend for the better cushion/better pushing feeling.
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Yea not many are really a pure ecto, meso, endo but I see those more as markers that cover a spectrum.
I see alot of older guys these days who have still great physiques and I think to myself “fuck yea”. I wonder if more widespread use of TRT is helping that?
You know women really did get the shit end of the stick when it comes to maintaing their physical form.
And also adding just 10-20 lbs of lean muscle to your frame can completely change the way people respond to and behave with you.
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This is too good to pass up.
I’m getting ads for a company that appears to specialize in skinny jeans and earthtone T sirts, that sort of thing – Hipstergear.
The apparently unironic name? BetaBrand.
I wish I was making that up. Sadly, I am not. http://www.betabrand.com/bike-to-work.html?gclid=CL-Q3qSn77ECFQmEnQodpVwAFQ
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My suggestion would be that people should read all 3 previous posts and then decide which type they fit in. Then they should follow the advice for their type, rather than try to change type.
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Temperament is the biological element to personality, right? Is there any way to change it with drugs or hormones?
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so an endomorph who sheds fat cells will experience the effects of a hormonal boost of T.
That’s not true and besides the actual level of T is irrelevant as long and it’s in the normal range. Each manuses his natural T level in the same way and a man with higher lab T levels is not any more mascculine or potent than a man with lower lab T levels.
The only time you will see a difference is when you artificially boost T levels or if through some disease process the normal level for a particular man falls. Each man has a different norm and the actual level means little.
In cases of hypogonadism it’s actually very difficult to get the levels higher by giving T and balancing it against side effects which is why HCG is used to get the body to produce more of its own T. The syntheticT is Not identical to the T produced in a man’s body.
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OT, but re: Ancestral Health Conference – knives have begun being withdrawn:
http://freetheanimal.com/2012/08/ahs12-whining-and-gnashing-of-teeth.html#comments
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Testosterone levels also genetically influenced.
Different men are prone to different levels. If they get higher status in life, this also increases T levels, in a feedback loop
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you know, this is all pretty much retarded, there is no such thing as genetically defined ecto-meso-endo it is all intellectual fapping. Truth is: you have problems in your childhood relating to other people, you have anxieties etc, you won’t get in competitive sports for fear of being mocked on —> you start your path through skinniness-loneliness-pc games etc.
You are a fatty fatty but still you look funny to other people—> then you become the endo type and you are comfortable with people and food.
You are competitive—> you get into sports and build a good body.
Then at later age everything can change. You get into sports even if you were a skinny gay and then you build muscle and YES, bones do modify even at older ages. The fact that chateau wrote that bones and personality do not modify is just another justification to prove this gay dogma of ecto-meso-endo blabla. It’s like being a catholic you know, you MUST rationalize everything. Reality and biomechanics are different and there is NO STEREOTYPING in nature. I know fucking skinny guys who are hyperalpha with women and people, have fun, do not pass their time with mental grinding and are soccer champions. I know muscular guys that seem retarded and socially handicapped and are seen as the “no brain jacked guy” stereotype. And I know fattyos nerds who can’t stand people.
Now, don’t come tell me: “OHH, THAT SKINNY GUY IS A MESO!” or “ffs, it’s an exception!”. Leave all that bs behind.
All this talk is for butthurt masochistic that like to identify themselves as “ecto” just to suffer a little more and remain in their suffering comfort zone and think themselves as incapable of being better etc. Because otherwise there would be no fucking genetical meaning if nature made people in three ways and only one of them had to be attractive to women and the other had to be servant orbiters. If it was like this, there would be three different races and their main drives would be: To fuck and action for the meso (when in reality EVERY FUCKING MAN ON EARTH HAS THESE AS MAIN DRIVES), to eat and talk for the endo (wtf?), to suffer and get depressed and invent new stuff for the ecto (WTF?).
Oh, before anyone of you had to flame me, yes, I was a fucking skinny nerd in my school years, because I was one year younger, I was afraid of getting in competition etc. Then when I grew up I started kickboxing, I won some fucking tournaments (national), I got jacked and big, MY FACE got bigger, MY JAW got bigger (I had a skinny face and big ears in youth). SO WTF? I WAS AN ECTO AND BECAME A MESO? THIS IS RETARDED. Then while studying I lost weight again and looked like the paraplegic version of michael phelps, then got to the gym agian and now I’m meso again?? And yes, my personality has changed over time, like everyone, depending on people I have around and stuff happening to my life, like everyone. If your meso hero goes to live in china, do you think he will remain the alpha hero that you all crave for. Don’t you think it’s time to stop spending your life in stupid philosopy and start doing stuff so you will become that idiotic alpha meso hero that you would like to see banging ur wife while you jack off to him?? Truth is most of you are wannabe cuckolds.
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Whysomadbrah?
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This is a really good comment. Props man.
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Most men around where I live (bay area, ca aka silicon valley) look like they have
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter%27s_syndrome
“During puberty, the physical traits of the syndrome become more evident; because these boys do not produce as much testosterone as other boys, they have a less muscular body, less facial and body hair, and broader hips. As teens, XXY males may have larger breasts, weaker bones, and a lower energy level than other boys.[10]”
It’s pretty depressing. Is this the type of men I have to look forward to be married to for the rest of my life? I would say I’m average in looks, but at least I’m petite and thin (5’4, 105 pounds).
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[…] Chicks, The Right Game For Your Body Type: The Endomorph, TRGFYBT: Mesomorph, TRGFYBT: Ectomorph, Defying Your Body Type Temperament, Hamster Of The […]
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Fat is a known T suppressor/estrogen increaser
Hence manboobery?
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This is a joke, right?
Waiting for the next post about how a man’s astrological sign affects his game type.
Come on.
(If this comment makes the Chateau butt-hurt, by all means delete it.)
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“we are gradually learning that a lot (50% or more) of our personality is genetically conditioned”
Source?
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