Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Ritika belongs to a family where all the family members have different types of personality. Ritika is an athlete who has a strong build and is muscular. She is courageous and energetic. These characteristics make her an asset to her team. She is very popular among the team-members. On the other hand, her sister Heena is thin and fragile and is an introvert. She is brainy and enjoys painting. Their mother is an extravert, soft and round and is famous among family and friends for her humour and outgoing nature. In contrast, their father is a workaholic, highly motivated and is always short of time. Truly, one seldom sees such a variety under one roof.
Identify Heena's personality type described in the passage:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Ectomorphic
Sheldon grouped people by body build and temperament into endomorphs, mesomorphs and ectomorphs. Heena is thin and fragile, an introvert, brainy, and she enjoys painting.
Option (1) Endomorphic — Incorrect. Endomorphs are fat, soft and round, and relaxed and sociable by temperament. That is the description of the mother, not of Heena.
Option (2) Mesomorphic — Incorrect. Mesomorphs have strong musculature and a strong, rectangular body build, and are energetic and courageous. That fits Ritika the athlete.
Option (3) Ectomorphic — Correct. Ectomorphs are thin, long and fragile in body build, and brainy, artistic and introvert. Heena’s build, her introversion, her brains and her love of painting match every part of it.
Option (4) Melancholic — Incorrect. Melancholic is one of the four types in the typology of the Greek physician Hippocrates, which is based on body fluids or humours (sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and choleric). It is not a body-build type, so it does not describe Heena’s thin and fragile build.
NCERT (2025-26): “Type Approaches … The Greek physician Hippocrates had proposed a typology of personality based on fluid or humour. He classified people into four types (i.e., sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and choleric); each characterised by specific behavioural features.…” “Type Approaches … Within psychology, the personality types given by Sheldon are fairly well-known. Using body build and temperament as the main basis, Sheldon proposed the Endomorphic, Mesomorphic, and Ectomorphic typology. The endomorphs are fat, soft and round. By temperament they are relaxed and sociable. The mesomorphs have strong musculature, are rectangular with a strong body build. They are energetic and courageous. The ectomorphs are thin, long and fragile in body build. They are brainy, artistic and introvert.…” |