Introduction to Graphology and Handwriting Analysis

Introduction to Graphology and Handwriting Analysis

gra·phol·o·gy

Graphology is made up to two words, Grapho which means (French, from Middle French, from Greek, from graphē, from graphein) to write and ology is a discipline of study, as indicated by having the -ology suffix.

There also exist many other words formed from the same root: Graphopathology, Graphomaniac, Graphistic, Graphopsychology, Psychographology, Graphometric, Graphometry, Graphoanalysis, Graphotechnology, Micrographia.

Other ways to describe Graphology and handwriting interchangeably are graphologic, brainwriting, "Handwriting is brain writing.", graphologists also work with the police at what’s called “forensic graphoanalysis.”

There are two validations which proponents of graphology put forth, one is every individual has unique handwriting and second never two people have the same handwriting, not even twins.

The person who studies graphology is a graphologist, the person who conducts handwriting analysis is a handwriting analyst, both can be one and the same. The difference is a graphologist 'studies' graphology (shapes, forms, traits, etc) and a handwriting analyst 'analyzes' the handwriting (using graphology) and may express it. Thus "graphology is a science and handwriting analysis is an art".

Art is the Objectification of FEELING. - Herman Melville

Graphology (science) is predictable, it has a set of ideas or notions. Handwriting analysis (art) depends, first on an understanding of graphology and then the ability to express it to another person. Thus a single handwriting can be expressed in a zillion different ways.

Graphology has evolved via two major thoughts on how handwriting analysis is done.

1. Gestalt Technique - Gestalt analysis (quick glance) follows the basic principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These are the caliber, proportion, spacing, progression, pressure, gesture or area occupied by the features. Impression of the whole.
2. Trait Stroke Technique - Trait stroke analysis (fine point) believes that a specific stroke formation reveals a certain personality trait. Graphical aspects.

Interestingly both methods will arrive at similar conclusions, using different paths.

Handwriting For Graphologists

What is handwriting for graphologists?

Handwriting is a window to both the conscious and the subconscious minds. 

Handwriting refers to a person's unique style of writing characters created with a writing utensil such as a pen or pencil. Your handwriting is just like your finger prints. For instance, no two people in the world can have the same finger print; no two people in the world can have the same handwriting. Even identical twins write differently. A person's handwriting is relatively stable but changes little over time. 

Characteristics of handwriting include:

• Specific shape of letters, e.g. their roundness or sharpness
• Regular or irregular spacing between letters
• The slope of the letters
• The rhythmic repetition of the elements or arrhythmia
• The pressure to the paper
• The average size of letters

How handwriting comes from the subconscious mind?

When we first begin to form letters, we have to think about how to make each one of them. After a short time, our subconscious mind begins to take over the duties of forming the letters, then words, sentences etc. Then we only have to think and our subconscious mind sends minute electrical impulse to our hand telling us how to write. In other words, our brain or subconscious mind actually forms our writing as a result of habit. The pen is merely a tool, directed through the movement of our fingers, by impulses that originate in the brain. The message is sent via the nervous system to our arm, hand, which motivates the pen to produce the writing.

Handwriting varies from person to person and the question to ask and understand is why?

Handwriting requires the motor coordination of multiple joints in the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder to form letters and to arrange them on the page. Holding the pen and guiding it across paper depends mostly upon sensory information from skin, joints and muscles of the hand and this adjusts movement to changes in the friction between pen and paper. With practice and familiarity, handwriting becomes highly automated using motor programs stored in motor memory. Compared to other complex motor skills handwriting is far less dependent on a moment-to-moment visual guidance. - Source

Cursive, also known as script, joined-up writing, joint writing, running writing, or handwriting is any style of penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in a conjoined and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster. However, not all cursive copybooks join all letters. Formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. In the Arabic, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets, many or all letters in a word are connected, sometimes making a word one single complex stroke. - Source

Block letters (known as printscript, manuscript, print writing or ball and stick in academics) are a sans-serif (or "gothic") style of writing Latin script in which the letters are individual glyphs. In English-speaking countries, children are often first taught to write in block letters, and later may advance to cursive (joined) writing. Other countries (Poland, Italy, etc.) focus on cursive writing from the first grade. It is not necessary to write in all capital letters when writing in block letters. The term "block letters" is found to include both upper and lower case. - Source

Calligraphy (from Ancient Greek: κάλλος kallos "beauty" + γραφή graphẽ "writing") is a type of visual art related to writing. It is not found in regular common usage and calligraphy is written consciously, therefore it it not considered in graphology.

A graphologist and handwriting analyst is different from handwriting expert also know as document examiner or forensic experts. Questioned document examination (QDE) is the forensic science discipline pertaining to documents that are (or may be) in dispute in a court of law.

Lets look at the three distinctly different people.

• The handwriting owner is writing to express their thoughts and words.
• The graphologist studies 'how' its written which gives them insights to the personality.
• The document examiner or handwriting expert detects forgery in questioned documents.

History of Graphology

Brief History of Graphology by Ruth Gardner

The science of graphology has for many years been a tool to increase awareness of an individual’s character or personality. Three thousand years ago, Nero stated that he had no trust for a certain individual because his handwriting showed him to be treacherous. 

"Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience, and written words are the symbols of spoken words. Just as men have not the same speech sounds, so all men have not the same writing."  - Aristotle

In l622, Camillo Baldo, a physician in Italy, wrote the first book that we know of on graphology. The book was titled How To Judge the Nature and the Character of a Person from His Letter. He commented on the fact that all writers write differently and that no one can write like another. 

The word "graphology" was first used by Abby Michon of Paris. The word is taken from the Greek "graph" meaning writing and "ology" meaning study. Michon collected and studied thousands of samples and after many years published his system of analysis. He and perhaps some of his students established the Graphological Society in Paris that actively existed until World War II. A student of Michon’s, Jean Crépieux-Jamin, emphasized that handwriting must be studied as a whole gestalt, not as so many unrelated characteristics. Each of us is a complicated creation with many characteristics that form a sum total. When those characteristics are in conflict, they must be weighed one against the other to arrive at an accurate evaluation of the writing. 

Ludwig Klages, a well-known philosopher in Germany, established the laws and principles of graphology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of these principles are still used by many graphologists today. Klages states that the basic law of expression is that every bodily movement actualizes the tensions and drives the personality. Klages originated the concept of "form level," which is judged by the general rhythm of writing. (This concept is accepted or rejected depending on the graphologist’s own desire and experience.) Among his many published books are Handwriting and Character and The Problem of Graphology. 

Edgar Allan Poe analyzed handwriting and published some of his analysis. He used the word "autography" to describe his involvement. He stated that there are systemized procedures to autography, and that the analyst must be able to distinguish the differences between calculation and analysis. His observations and research were published in 1926 as a book by Dial Press of New York. 

Gordon Allport, in his studies at Harvard Psychological Clinic in 1930, based his research on the assumption that: 1) personality is consistent; 2) movement is expressive of personality; and 3) the gestures and other expressive movements of an individual are consistent with one another. Thus he explained a basis for personality evaluation and its expression in handwriting. 

In l955, Klara Roman and George Staemphli developed a checklist that organized certain factors and plotted them on a chart called a graphological psychogram. This psychogram was refined by Daniel Anthony of New York some years later. 

Oddly, the acceptance and practice of graphology in the United States has progressed more slowly than in other parts of the world although there have been many noted American researchers. In Europe graphologists have been leaders in the study of graphology. Psychology curriculums in many European universities require studies in handwriting psychology.

What is Graphology?

Graphology is the science of understanding the human subconscious mind through the handwriting.

What you write reflects your conscious mind; the way you write reflects your subconscious mind. Your handwriting bears the unique imprint of your personality, with all its strengths and weaknesses, for the entire world to see. It is as if, in an unconscious way, you are offering a window to your deepest self.

Handwriting is brain writing. Graphology is study of brain impulse on paper. It is like an x-ray of our mind. Imagine a blank paper which represents the writer’s total environment.  The handwriting tells about the writer’s interaction with the environment.​

Hand holds a major portion of the brain. In that the thumb holds a major portion. So handwriting using thumb and fingers is best handwriting sample.
Writing on the white-board uses the wrist which is not a very accurate handwriting sample.

Graphology is a representation of your subconscious mind on paper. Mind that sets the brain which release the impulse.

It is a documented fact that when a person communicates by way of speaking, only 15-20% of brain cells are activated, whereas when a person writes nearly 85-90% of the brain cells are activated. Hence it is always easier for a graphologist to understand the person thoroughly through the handwriting.

Benefits of Learning Graphology:

1. Understanding Yourself: After learning graphology you will be able to know your strengths and weaknesses also see yourself in a totally new light. This is especially true if you want to have a meaningful relationship. Before you can understand others you have to understand yourself first.
2. Knowing your Friends, Colleagues & Relatives: Graphology enables you to know the real aspects of personalities and hence it not only helps you to understand them better but also improve the relationship with them.
3. Selecting Life Partner: There is a big difference between a boyfriend and a husband. Before marriage, many boys promise the moon and the stars but later girls face disappointment, the picture after marriage is not that rosy. Graphology can help in selecting the right partner aka spouse as the true picture.
4. Selecting a Business Partner: Equally important it is for you to select correct business partner since you can read and understand the mindset of the person and that itself can help you in taking the right decision.
5. Child Development: Every child’s mind is programmed in the childhood by the male and female images in child’s life i.e... parents. Parents can understand their child’s strengths and weaknesses and mold them to enhance their hidden skills for becoming a better individual of tomorrow.
6. Criminology: Graphology can assist police department, lawyers, detectives in solving crimes and it can also assist banks and insurance companies to detect signature frauds.
7. Recruitment: Graphology can help in recruiting the right people for the right job.

Limits of Graphology and Handwriting Analysis:

1. Gender Identification: Using graphology cannot determine the sex of the writer.
2. Age Identification: Age is not seen in handwriting.
3. Right or Left Hand: The handwriting is written by which hand or even if its written by hand, cannot be determined.
4. Nationality: Handwriting cannot determine the writers native.
5. Religion Caste Creed: This is not seen in the handwriting.
6. Future Predictions: Future cannot/should not be predicted using handwriting.