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Definition
The schizothymia-cyclothymia dimension was proposed by Ernst Kretschmer to explain the associations among personality components characteristic of schizophrenia at one extreme of the dimension, and manic-depressive insanity at the other, as well as normal-range “schizoid” and “cycloid” expressions of personality.
Introduction
The term schizothymia, or schizothyme, derives from Ernst Kretschmer’s (1921, 1936) body type psychodiagnostic scheme proposing that the schizophrenic and manic-depressive forms of psychosis are each associated with unique qualities of temperament, which are engendered by common patterns of physical constitution factors characteristic of discernable body types. Kretschmer proposed that discernable body types existed and that three particular types conveyed specific likelihood to develop particular personality patterns. The thin (leptosomatic), muscular (athleticosomatic), and obese (pyknosomatic) body types were believed to be...
References
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Green, B.A. (2017). Schizothymia. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_945-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_945-1
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