By James Aitchison

Can your brain really reveal your personality by the way it controls the muscles of your hand?  Can your handwriting express your innermost levels of intelligence, cognitive ability and talent?

In the mid-twentieth century, so-called experts frequently analysed the handwriting of job applicants to identify the most desirable candidate.  Today we can only speculate how many careers were affected — even ruined — by this discredited method of psychological analysis.

Graphology, the analysis of handwriting to determine the writer’s personality traits, is nowadays considered a pseudoscience at best.  Its findings have not been substantiated by scientific evidence.  In fact, mental health professionals regard graphology — along with phrenology, palmistry and astrology — as among the most discredited methods of psychological analysis.

On the surface, graphology — “handwriting is brainwriting” — does sound plausible.  The practice originated with Spanish physician Juan Huarte de San Juan in 1575.  Over the centuries, graphology garnered a serious following.  By the 1920s, graphology was accepted widely in Europe and the United States.  Major corporations weeded out job candidates based on handwriting analysis.  Graphologist Erik Rees says today it is still taught on the Continent as part of psychology degrees, while the British regard it “as a bit of fun.  As a parlour game rather than a serious science.”

Despite that, more than 3,000 businesses in the UK still use graphology as part of their recruitment process.  One consultant explained: “Clients tend to use it on maybe the second or third round of interviews.  Candidates would be asked to write something down which would then be analysed.  Applicants are made aware that their handwriting sample is to be examined, but not all are happy about it.”

In marked contrast, the British Psychological Society ranked graphology alongside astrology, giving them both “zero validity”.  British psychologist Rowan Bayne warned: “It’s very seductive because at a very crude level someone who is neat and well behaved tends to have neat handwriting.”  The practice, Bayne emphasised, “is useless, absolutely hopeless.”

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The brain-hand connection, of course, is valid to an extent.  Our brains — and their deterioration — can influence our handwriting.  People with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease often have abnormally small and cramped (micrographial) handwriting caused by deteriorating fine motor skills.

However, correlations between certain handwriting features and personality traits does not mean that correlation equals causation.  Someone with large handwriting might well be extroverted, but large handwriting does not cause extroversion.

And, importantly, some correlations might be due to cultural influences and the way someone was taught to write.

There are two systems of graphology: integrative graphology focuses on the strokes in someone’s handwriting, while holistic graphology centres on form, movement and the writer’s use of space. 

Worse, graphotherapy is a pseudoscience that seeks to change someone’s handwriting in order to change their personality — “handwriting analysis in reverse”.  Likewise, analysing handwriting to predict marital compatibility is even more nonsensical.

What do graphologists believe?  They argue that because humans are complex, often confusing creatures, we should look for clues wherever we can to understand someone’s behaviours and motivations. 

“Like body language, handwriting is analysed in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of a person’s personality,” says certified graphologist and licensed psychotherapist Annette Poizner.  “When handwriting analysis is done properly, it never looks at one small personality habit or trait in isolation.  It’s easy to say, ‘this means that’, but that approach is overly simplistic and doesn’t provide a complete picture of someone’s personality.  A good graphologist always uses handwriting analysis alongside other measures, not independently.”

Poizner explains that she uses handwriting analysis to provide insights into someone’s personality style, level of intelligence, cognitive thinking style, natural or developed talents, defining characteristic (people person, scholar, culture vulture, etc), attachment style and their unconscious motivations (guilt-ridden, impulsive, prone to anger, etc).

She further argues: “Graphology — and dream interpretation — facilitate insight and self-exploration … People write in unique and idiosyncratic ways, so it would make sense that those characteristic swirls or scratchings may be expressing facets of the writer’s individuality and personality … But properly trained graphologists know that handwriting analysis is more art than science, and any insights they glean from someone’s handwriting must be confirmed by the writers themselves.”

Amen to that!

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Graphologists will examine the pressure of your pen on the paper.  If you can feel the imprint of your handwriting on the other side of the page, that might indicate your intensity and energy — or your aggressiveness and controlling personality.  Soft pressure, on the other hand, could indicate a mild, bland personality, someone who cannot assert themselves!

If your handwriting is large, you probably enjoy being the centre of attention.  Small handwriting?  You’re either an introvert or humble.  But don’t fret: Albert Einstein’s handwriting was small, indicating his excellent concentration skills.

Here’s a new slant on your personality.  If you’re handwriting gradually slants downwards, it suggests someone experiencing disappointment or even depression.  If your handwriting moves uphill, it indicates optimism and ambition.  If your handwriting runs straight on an unlined page it demonstrates a strong, reliable work ethic.

The left side of the page constitutes the self.  The right side symbolises the outside world.  If your writing slants to the left or is upright, you are guarding your innermost nature.  If your writing slants to the right, you are more open and emotionally accessible.  But if it slants in all different directions, that’s the sign of a chaotic or disorganised mind. 

How do you cross your Ts?  A sweeping stroke speaks of your energy and generosity.  Cross your T towards the top of the letter, you’re ambitious.  But cross your T at a sharp, downward angle, you might have a negative personality.

The way you dot your i’s will give you away too.  A small, precise dot could indicate a perfectionist.  A dot with a sharp angle to it could indicate you are prone to anger.  Dot your i’s with a small round circle, or even a small smiley face, means you’re either playful — or have a need to be noticed!

Even the spaces you leave between words can betray your real self.  Leaving more than one character’s width points to your sense of disconnection and isolation.  Leave less and you’re too needy.  Evenly spaced handwriting is the sign of a someone with great organisational skills.  Expect to be hired on the spot!

Graphologists will analyse whether you write rounded or pointed letters, whether your l’s have wide or narrow loops, and whether your handwriting looks slow and deliberate (conscientious and organised) or rushed (so intelligent your hand can’t keep up with your thoughts, or so messy that you are impulsive and disorganised).

If you write with tall upper strokes, you are reaching for goals and ambitions.  But if the strokes are very extended, you may have unrealistic expectations.

Lower loops also have meanings; a straight stroke hints at your impatience to get the job done, a full loop with heavy pressure indicates your sensuality and money-making possibilities, while a full lower loop with light pressure whispers of your need for security!

Signatures, however, are not reliable indicators of personality.  A legible signature might indicate your desire to be clear and communicate.  But a messy, illegible signature doesn’t necessarily indicate a messy, defensive mind; some occupations (like doctors) requiring someone to use their signature again and again means they have developed a signature that is quick and effective to execute.

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Graphology remains a disputed pseudoscience.  Its advocates are as passionate as its critics.

Certainly, employment profiling — matching someone’s character from their handwriting with a so-called corporate “ideal psychological profile” — is risky at best.

And then there is what psychologists call the “Barnum Effect”.  This is our tendency to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to ourselves.  It is the same principle that makes horoscopes and palmistry seem eerily accurate.

The jury is out on graphology.  Recent research suggests its “reliability” is not backed by scientific evidence; handwriting experts have failed to demonstrate they can accurately predict work performance, aptitudes or personality.  Given the harm that pseudosciences can do, it is a relief to know that graphology might be reaching the end of the line.