About Handwriting

Handwriting skills may have gone downhill over the past 100 years, but now a person's handwriting can tell more than ever about their personality and character. In the past, strict handwriting lessons and penmanship classes in school led to upper class students having a very similar handwriting style. Now, because handwriting skills have deteriorated and it is not being taught as carefully in schools, handwriting skills vary greatly between individuals. A handwriting analysis by a graphologist can explore an individual's personality traits and can be useful in trials and court cases.

History

English handwriting samples have been discovered from as early as 1060 C.E. Secretary hand, a type of cursive, was used on all official English documents in England throughout the 1500s. United States documents were slightly more relaxed. The Declaration of Independence used a more connected handwriting than typical English handwriting was. Abraham Lincoln used handwriting for the Gettysburg Address that was even more relaxed and, in the past, could have been thought of as uneducated. Now, most individuals' handwriting skills are probably similar to Abraham Lincoln's. Secretaries in the 1700s and 1800s were taught to write in a handwriting style known as "fair hand," because they were constantly handwriting correspondence letters that required particular legibility. Secretaries were all educated in "fair hand" before being offered a position, and it was considered as part of the job description. In the 1960s, handwriting stopped being taught as often in schools, and children were encouraged to develop their own handwriting style. This, along with the invention of computers and typewriters, has led to a more relaxed handwriting style among the American population today.

Types

Three types of graphology help us discover handwriting traits nowadays. Integrative graphology is the idea that specific personalities can be illustrated by a person's handwriting. If you go in for a handwriting test at a university, this is probably the type of test you will be participating in. Symbolic graphology is looking for symbols in a particular person's handwriting that may relate to their life or past life. These symbols are usually examined after a person dies and may be used as forensic information in a trail or court case. Holistic graphology is the least used in graphology these days. Holistic graphology is the study of legibility and the space between letters.

Features

Handwriting is most commonly identified by the slant of the writing itself, the angles of the handwriting lines, and the individual letters within the words. A backward slant signifies emotional distress, while a forward slant to handwriting signifies outward emotional expression. The angles of the handwriting lines operate along a similar scale. Staying exactly on the line of the page indicates stiffness, slanting up slightly as the line continues indicates a heightened mood, and slanting downwards expresses tiredness. The study of the individual letters themselves operate along a similar theory. The crossing of letters like "t" and the dotting of letters like "i" or "j" indicates that a low cross or dot signifies low self-esteem, whereas a high dot indicates feelings of self-worth.

Theories/Speculation

At Handwriting Consultants International in San Diego, a course is offered for businesses to measure the aptitude of business workers and office members. Apparently, the course is supposed to inform business owners about their workers and how qualified they are to do their jobs. The idea that job aptitude can be measured by handwriting style is controversial but continues to be offered at Handwriting Consultants International. Handwriting Consultants International also offers individual tests to determine your own self-worth and self-esteem, which is more accepted in today's society. According to Handwriting Consultants International, personality can absolutely be determined by examining handwriting. This is not yet widely accepted as a theory in the United States.

Warning

Do not go into a handwriting test expecting to learn entirely accurate and truthful information about yourself. Handwriting graphology tests are simply guidelines and theories that are not proven on any type of factual scale. Do not allow an employer to test your handwriting and attempt to discover your eligibility for a job determined on your handwriting skills alone. Now that computers are present in the workplace, strict handwriting skills are not as important in employment. Handwriting tests are never the deciding factor in trials or court cases and should not be the deciding factor as to whether or not your job is secure. You can refuse to take a handwriting test if your employer requires one. Do not feel obligated to take a handwriting test to save your job.

Resources

• Handwriting Consultants of San Diego
• Graphologist.org
• How Graphology Fools People