Graphology declined in use in Germany and Nazi-occupied countries during World War II (which is why many of the most renowned graphologists of the time fled to other parts of Europe, Israel, or the United States), but graphology has since steadily grown in popularity and use. Graphological societies and organizations exist in the United States, England, France, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Italy, Israel, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand, and since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union, they are returning to Eastern Europe. Classes in graphology are taught in universities.
Graphology is used today in numerous areas, including education, guidance or vocational counseling, profiling job applicants, career assessment, business motivation, analysis of business and personal relationship compatibility, and screening of prospective jurors.
DID YOU KNOW?
Ruth Holmes, a noted graphologist, was hired by Dr. Jack Kervorkian’s counsel to aid in jury selection during his assisted suicide trials. Her work proved quite successful.
An in-depth analysis of handwriting can shed new light on a person’s values, beliefs, character traits, talents, and abilities. It can provide an accurate picture of the personality in general. It cannot, however, reveal the writer’s age, gender, race, religion, handedness, or ethnicity. Since it is nondiscriminatory, graphology is one of many excellent human resources tools. In fact, graphologists working for personnel departments rarely meet the employment candidates—they make their observations on handwriting alone.
The Signature: Power and Identity
The pen is mightier than the sword.
— EDWARD GEORGE BULWER-LYTTON
Handwriting is a very individual trademark. Since no two people have the same handwriting, signatures have been legally binding on documents of all types: contracts, wills, checks, and the Declaration of Independence, to name a few (the signature is often referred to as a “John Hancock,” since his handwriting was so prominent on this historic document!). Your signature is your personal seal. And if someone tries to reproduce it, that’s forgery, which is considered a crime. Sir William Herschel, who developed the system of fingerprint identification, confirmed the uniqueness of one’s signature; he believed that handwriting reveals character in the same way that a fingerprint reveals identity.
Handwriting is special and sometimes even coveted. Think of how valuable autographs are. Collecting autographs is a serious hobby to many people, whether for long-term profit or simply for the fun and excitement of having the signature of someone you admire or respect.
Can a signature alone give a glimpse into someone’s character? To a degree. Of course, it is always preferable to have a page of writing to analyze—a signature might be different from the text of a handwriting, and the longer or more varied a sample you have, the better and more accurate your view of that person and his or her character. However, interesting character revelations can often be derived from how one’s name is signed. We’ll look at some famous—and infamous—signatures later in this book, with the proviso that a signature represents a very limited sample of writing. Still, because it is the most practiced writing we create, our signature is considered our psychological calling card.
DID YOU KNOW?
January 12 is National Handwriting Day and January 6 through 12 is National Handwriting Analysis Week (sponsored by the American Association of Handwriting Analysts and the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation). Celebrate it write!
Handwriting in the Computer Age
In our current information age, more and more people are using computers, cell phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to communicate. Instead of writing in longhand, we’re typing out our term papers, business reports, or novels using word-processing programs on computers. Instead of drafting handwritten letters to friends in other cities and countries, we now text message or e-mail. While all this makes communication faster and life a lot easier, it means there’s a lot less old-fashioned writing going on. And e-mail is not a living expression of the writer, nor does it become a keepsake of the author.
Some computer programs will create a font that replicates your handwriting or signature. You’ve probably even noticed that your paycheck now has a computer-generated signature rather than the real thing. If you’ve ever used a personal digital assistant (like the Palm), you’ve probably seen the software called Graffiti, which turns your handwritten strokes into letters (albeit not always as accurately as you’d like). And the Tablet PC is a developing technology in which a digital pen can be used on a tablet or screen to turn your written words into printed language on the computer. Microsoft’s CEO, Bill Gates, believes that the Tablet PC “will be the most popular form of PC sold in America.”
There are also computer programs that claim to analyze your handwriting in moments. Though some programs can help the professional graphologist expedite the input and output of information, the student of graphology or layperson wanting to understand how to read handwriting would best do it the old-fashioned way—by reading books written by serious professionals, taking classes, and collecting and studying actual handwriting samples. The more you study and interpret, the better at it you will become.
Without real handwriting and a knowledgeable professional doing the analysis, there is no accounting for accuracy.
It is widely believed that no computer program existing today can consistently pick up all the nuances in a handwriting sample, or provide the personal insights and reliable instincts of a trained professional. Would you want your doctor to make a diagnosis about an illness based purely on your filling out a questionnaire, without the benefit of an in-person examination?
Nothing will ever take the place of the intimacy that a personal, handwritten note or signature delivers. Imagine getting a romantic love letter printed in Times Roman. Or not signing your five-year-old’s birthday card, “Love, Mom” or “Love, Dad.” There will always be times when writing by hand will be appropriate or simpler. As we forge into the future, our identities might become as impersonal as keypunches in a giant data bank, but our signatures will still be uniquely our own.
1. International Graphology Conference, University of Zuirich, October 1998.
2. The Wall Street Journal, September 3, 1988.
CHAPTER 2
Different Strokes for Different Folks
UNDERSTANDING WRITING STYLES AND TECHNIQUES
Each handwriting is as unique as a thumbprint. It is an outward reflection of one’s inner character. There are many attributes to consider when analyzing a handwriting sample: margins, spacing, zones, size, connectivity, strokes, slants, movement, rhythm, regularity, speed,
