IS THERE ANY SCIENCE TO HANDWRITING ANALYSIS?
Handwriting analysis, or graphology, is the study of handwriting and how it is connected to a
person’s behavior and personality. It has been in existence for thousands of years and is used mostly
for employment profiling, marital compatibility, jury screening, psychological analysis, and even
medical diagnosis. Forensic analysis to authenticate a document or determine whether a particular
person wrote a document is not graphology. Graphology is based on the assumption that the brain and
the central nervous system directly influence the movement of the hand. Graphologists believe that
handwriting is the physical manifestation of the subconscious.
These are examples of how graphology claims to link handwriting and personality traits: letters
slant to the left (has emotional control); letters slant to the right (is friendly and impulsive); the slants
of letters are different (is versatile); small letters (is intelligent but has low self-esteem); large letters
(is confident); massive letters (is theatrical and loud); narrow letters (is shy and self-disciplined);
wide letters (is emotionally open); wide spaces between letters (prefers isolation); connecting letters
(is cautious); perfect writing (is a good communicator); messy writing (is secretive); endings curve
upward (is generous); and the t is crossed above the stem (is a daydreamer).
Graphologists once analyzed doodles made by Tony Blair at an economic forum. They concluded
that the shapes of his words and drawings indicated he had a political death wish, the ability to come
up with a fluent answer, and an inability to complete tasks. As it transpired, the doodles were in fact
made by Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, who certainly possessed an ability to complete tasks.
Critics of graphology claim that graphologists rely on the content of what is written and that the lack
of any scientific evidence makes it meaningless. The majority of studies conclude that it has no
validity and that, in more than 70 percent of cases, graphologists cannot even determine the writer’s
gender. Nevertheless, it was estimated in the 1980s that around 3,000 businesses in the US used
graphology in screening potential employees, with suggestions that the number has grown
considerably since that time.

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