Graphology

North Texas Skeptics

Graphology Fact Sheet

Introduction

The belief that handwriting is a sign of the inner personality is very old. The first serious attempt to analyze handwriting seems to have been that of Camillo Baldi, an Italian scholar, who published a book on the subject in 1622. As literacy spread, handwriting analysis became popular, being practiced as an art form by such literary figures as Goethe, Poe, the Brownings and Dickens. Jean Hippolyte Michon coined the term "graphology" in 1875. Michon systematized handwriting analysis by associating hundreds of graphic signs with specific personality traits.

Around the turn of the century, the French psychologist Alfred Binet performed several experiments with handwriting analysis as a device for testing personality. Binet claimed that handwriting experts could distinguish successful from unsuccessful persons with high accuracy. The German school of handwriting analysis, led by Ludwig Klages, developed a subjective and esoteric approach to graphology, and apparently never even attempted experimental verification of its claims.

There is today no single theory or method that dominates graphology. The French school concentrated on isolated signs as specific indicators of personality, and the Germans sought to make subjective interpretations based on a total impression of a person's handwriting. In 1929 M. N. Bunker founded "graphoanalysis" as a compromise between these two extreme positions The language and techniques of graphoanalysis seem to be more or less the common graphological practice in the United States today. (Bunker 1971). Bunker founded the International Graphoanalysis Society, which now offers an 18-month correspondence course for analysts. The society is based in Chicago and claims 10,000 active members. The Institute of Graphological Science in Dallas also offers courses and accreditation in graphology, but it is not affiliated with the Graphoanalysis Society. Unless indicated otherwise, I will use the term "graphologist" to refer to a practitioner of any school of handwriting analysis for personality assessment.

Graphological technique

Even though there is no canonical school of graphology, some discussion of the practice may be helpful. Remember that the basic assumption underlying graphology is that handwriting is an expression of the personality; hence, a systematic analysis of the way a person forms words and letters will reveal traits of personality. The graphologists are fond of repeating, "Handwriting is brain writing."

Graphologists look for such features as the slant of characters, the size of individual letters, angularity and curvature, and such non-graphic features as the pressure of upward and downward strokes. In most systems, the slant of the letters is very important. A right slant generally correlates with extroversion, and a left slant with introversion. The shape of the letter "t" seems important to all systems. Bunker's book contains a dictionary of specific signs and their correlates with personality, such as "pride: tall d-stems, t-stems not vertical." (Bunker 1971). Another system (Rosen 1965) defines sixteen factors, including graphic factors such as slant, spacing and letter size, as well as global features such as "rhythm" and "tempo." Sheila Kurtz uses handwriting features such as slant, pressure and t-formation to create a subject's "graphoprofile," which reveals, among other things, his thinking pattern, goal orientation, fear traits, defenses, integrity traits and social traits. (Kurtz and Marilyn 1983). Graphologists prefer handwriting samples that are spontaneous, and not given for the express purpose of being analyzed. They prefer a text of some length, written with a tool sensitive to pressure and speed. Graphologists want a text with biographical material if possible, and they want to know the age and sex of the writer. The output of the analysis is a free-form personality description, perhaps systematized in some way (Kurtz, et al. 1983).

The claims of graphology are bold: "The analyst can, with surprising accuracy, predict what the writer will do and how he will react under certain conditions" (Bunker 1971). "Analysis of a handwriting specimen becomes a behavioral indicator and a remarkably accurate gauge of the writer's character. Graphology can even "...foretell a person's future actions and future intellectual performance" (Rosen 1965). "By focusing attention on [a child's] drawings, you will discover the attitudes and reactions responsible for shaping his personality" (Solomon 1978). Some even claim that changing one's handwriting can change one's personality (Kurtz 1983).

The references cited are only a few of the many books by graphologists. The Internet bookstore, Amazon Books, offers 170 works on the subject. Titles include: Change Your Handwriting, Change Your Life, by Vimala Rodgers; Lovescript: What Handwriting Analysis Reveals About Love and Romance, by Michael Watts; Write What's Wrong: Using Handwriting to Reveal Hidden Health Problems, by Claude Santoy. These titles certainly suggest graphology is a powerful tool for understanding and even changing personality.

Like everyone else nowadays, graphologists offer their services on the Internet. Mark Hopper of Handwriting Research Corporation in Phoenix claims to have developed "...the world's first and only scientifically validated handwriting system." (Hopper 1998). Hooper did not respond to my request for information supporting this claim. Sheila Lowe offers the Handwriting Analyzer software, which she claims is "...the world's most advanced handwriting analyzer; ideal for business." Lowe claims the reports prepared by the program can tell a person's strengths and weaknesses "in certain areas" as well as point out characteristics indicating a potential problem for an employer. (Lowe 1998). One of the handwriting organizations has a home page with information and pointers to graphological material on the Internet. (American Society of Professional Graphologists 1998).

Is graphology really a valid method of assessing personality? Psychological tests that attempt to judge personality, as opposed to ability, are notoriously difficult to validate. The difficulty would seem even greater when we are talking about such complex traits as honesty or integrity. Psychologists freely admit that they do not have any paper-and-pencil tests that give even remotely reliable information about these traits. It