Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) about Graphology

1. What is handwriting analysis?
A: It is a scientific (I repeat, scientific) method of identifying, evaluating, and understanding a person's personality via the strokes and patterns revealed by his handwriting. Handwriting analysis study the handwriting and its connection to behavior, personal information and other human traits. It describes the general resources of language's written system, including punctuation, spelling, typography, alphabet and paragraph structure.

2. Do the terms graphology, and handwriting analysis mean the same thing?
A: Although, graphology and handwriting analysis have been used for centuries to describe evaluating personality through the study of handwriting, a few distinctions have arisen in the past 50 years.

* The term handwriting analysis is the umbrella term that describes all forms and theories about understanding character from handwriting.
* The term graphology has come to symbolize an affiliation with the more holistic or Gestalt approach to handwriting analysis. Some graphologists disregard the trait-stroke method completely.

Most experienced analysts agree that combining various kind study of thought, gives the analyst the most flexibility and resources that result in a more accurate personality assessment.

3. What can be told about a person from his handwriting?
A: Handwriting reveals hundreds of elements of the person's "personality and character," which include glimpses into the subconscious mind, emotional responsiveness, intellect, energy, fears and defenses, motivations, imagination, integrity, aptitudes, and even sex drives and issues of trust. There are over 100 individual traits revealed and an unlimited number of combination.

4. How does handwriting reveal personality?
A: Handwriting is often referred to as "brain writing." Research scientists in the fields of neuro-science have categorized neuro-muscular movement tendencies as they are correlated with specific observable personality traits. Each personality trait is represented by a neurological brain pattern. Each neurological brain pattern produces a unique neuro-muscular movement that is the same for every person who has that personality trait. When writing, these tiny movements occur unconsciously. Each written movement or stroke reveals a specific personality trait.

5. How old is handwriting analysis?
A: Research has found references to handwriting analysis as far back as 4500 BC. In 99 AD, the Roman historian Suetonius studied Emperor Augustus' personality from his handwriting. The first handwriting analysis book was published in 1622 by Camildo Baldo. Most pioneering research was performed before 1929 in Europe. The modern scientific method of analyzing individual strokes in handwriting began in 1915 by Milton Bunker.

6. Who uses handwriting analysis?
A: Anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of themselves and others:

• Individuals for self-improvement: they gain a better understanding of themselves and often incorporate aspects of grapho-therapy* to change bad habits.
• Single people to aid in the selection of compatible partners.
• Couples to improve current relationships through better understanding and communication.
• All people of all ages in the work force for career counseling.
• Employers for personnel selection.
• The courts for forgery and questioned documents.
• Attorneys to aid the jury selection process.
• Law enforcement in investigating evidence involving handwritten notes.
• Businesses for credit rating assistance.
• Psychologists for personality evaluation and therapy.

*(Note: I can teach you how to perform that grapho-therapy)

7. Why does my handwriting change from day to day?
A: Certain strokes represent emotions and moods. As your feelings and moods change from minute to minute, those corresponding particular strokes will change. However, the basic character-defining traits will remain the same. And, if you "really" have a total variation in handwriting styles, you are one moody person and should cut down on the sugar snacks :P

8. What can be told from a person's signature?
A: The signature represents what a person wants the world to see or what he wants to be, an image that may or may not be the same as the inner self. Because a signature contains only a few letters, it does not provide enough information for the analyst to make a complete and accurate evaluation.

9. Do law enforcement use the services of certified handwriting analysts?
A: Some law enforcement in America (not in Indonesia) use forensics specialists to determine the true identity of ransom notes and other handwritten evidence. They hire or use in-house trained document examiners.
In many homicide cases and FBI cases such as cases involving serial killers, a handwriting analyst is hired to help establish the psychological profile of the suspect if handwriting is available. The FBI has people on their staff for this purpose, with special criminal science background.

10. Are you a certified handwriting analyst or just someone who curious about it?
A: Both :)


References:
*http://science.howstuffworks.com/handwriting-analysis.htm
*http://www.myhandwriting.com
*http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/qdu_040909

Time Magazine; Handwriting As Character

Monday, May. 25, 1942

Graphology (handwriting analysis), long in the same U.S. doghouse with such pseudosciences as astrology, palmistry, phrenology may not be so phony as scientists have thought it.

Last week in Manhattan, quiet, greying, sharp-faced Dr. Walter William Marseille, former Berlin psychologist, described graphology's partial emergence from the doghouse to do a routine job of work: rating customer reliability for Spiegel's, Chicago mail-order house, which sells clothing, furniture and household goods to more than two million installment accounts.

Emergence. Marseille studied psychology at Heidelberg and Berlin, got his Ph.D. in 1926 for a critical study of graphological theories, later practiced in Berlin and Vienna as consulting psychologist and personnel adviser for public-utility and industrial corporations. He left Austria on the eve of the Nazi invasion. In 1940 Paul Lazarsfeld, public-opinion researcher, retained him to make a handwriting analysis of mail received by several U.S. Senators during the debate on the conscription bill. His educational rating of the letter-writers (later checked by interviewers) attracted the attention of FORTUNE'S Elmo Roper, who is also a director of Spiegel's. At Roper's suggestion, Spiegel's gave Marseille a trial: 20 handwritten order blanks from reliable customers, 20 from known delinquents. Looking solely for indications of honesty or dishonesty, he failed dismally. Next, he was given 200 specimens—100 of them good accounts, 100 bad; and this time he looked, not for crooks, but for inconsistent, unreliable, poorly adjusted people. He spotted them correctly in over 70% of the cases. Spiegel's told him to go ahead.

Routine. Instead of quibbling over the significance of high-crossed t's and un-dotted i's, the Marseille system, basically, studies the consistency or inconsistency of style, the degree of integration revealed in an individual's handwriting; rates the subject accordingly as: 1) very good risk; 2) fairly reliable; 3) dishonest; 4) poor budgeter, probably harassed by bill collectors.

Graphology's most intractable foes, handwriting experts (not to be confused with analysts), who specialize in detecting forgeries, were quick to belittle Marseille's claims last week. More hopeful were the psychologists and personnel consultants who would like to see handwriting analysis established on scientific ground. If taken away from fortune-tellers and given serious study, graphology may yet become a useful handmaiden of psychology, possibly revealing important traits, attitudes, values of the "hidden" personality. Research for medical graphology (which studies handwriting for symptoms of nervous diseases) already indicates that handwriting is more than muscular. Most re-assuring observation: people who lose their upper extremities, then learn to write with mouth or toes, retain in their new mouth-or foot-writing the essential characteristics of their original handwriting.

Taken from: Handwriting as Character. Time magazine, may 1942

Graphology Facts

Did you know?

1. Although its a common knowledge that Graphology is a branch of study from Psychology, but history has found that Graphology is older than psychology itself.
   
2. There are more than 2000 professional graphologists, scatter on all over Europe.
3. 85% companies in Europe and more than 3000 corporation in America uses the handwriting analysis technique during the employment selection. It has been proved as the fastest, cheapest, and most efficient than any other personality test.
4. In Indonesian bookstore, literature about graphology and handwriting analysis is categorized under the same section with occult, palmistry, and tarot.
   
5. Half of professional Graphologist didn't have psychology background.
   
6. If a person writes exactly as they were taught in school, he/she will be very conservative.
7. Changes in personality will show in the handwriting.
8. Graphologist cannot predict your future. We're not fortune teller :P
9. Graphology is taught in psychology departments of several leading universities in Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland and Israel.
10. Unlike any other psychological tests, graphology does not limited by culturally discriminating test questions. It is not even necessary that the person speak or write English or Indonesian.
11. Like a fingerprint, no one could have the same exact handwriting.

References:
*Siswanto, 2010. Menyingkap Kepribadian Lewat Tulisan Tangan. Jakarta: Libri.
*Marley J, 1976. Handwriting Analysis made easy. California: Wilshire book company.
*www.handwriting.com

Principle of Graphology

Analyze height, breadth, slant, curls, stems, loops, hooks, pressure, speed, spaces, margins, baselines. Every detail is scrutinized until a line of handwriting becomes a list of personality traits.