How to Determine Honesty Using Graphology

Is that person who you’re contemplating hiring an honest or dishonest, person? One exercise that can give you the inside track into a person’s characteristics, the good and the bad, is graphology, or handwriting analysis. Even a layperson can take a stab at it if she has some basic understanding of what to look for. Of course, you’ll need a handwriting sample from the prospective employee. You can easily obtain that by asking her to write a paragraph or two about herself and to sign it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Are You Lying to Me?

1. There are certain handwriting traits that are associated with dishonesty but make sure that you detect a number of these traits before jumping to a conclusion.Is the person’s writing full of mistakes? Granted, we all make errors when writing, but when there is one mistake after another, that is an indication that there is something wrong with the writer. It could mean that he’s physically or emotional unstable or that he’s dishonest. If the writer messes up his phone number or social security number or address, beware! He’s probably lying.

2. If the applicant’s handwriting is highly exaggerated with super-big or extremely ornate letters, this could mean that he’s a con man. Regular people do not feel the need to embellish their handwriting; however, posers tend to over-stylize their writing.

3. If you see that letters are missing from words, this is a sign of omission. He’s probably not telling the truth; he’s leaving something out and isn't being totally forthcoming. It may be that he's purposely omitting facts from his work history.

4. Are you noticing that there are stabs in the ovals (i.e., in the o’s and a’s and d’s)? If a person writes that he ‘dearly loves his wife’ and the "o" in love has a stab mark in it, he’s probably lying. He doesn’t love her at all. Generally, there isn’t any mark on the inside of an oval-shaped letter.

5. Is the felon’s claw evident? The felon’s claw appears in the writing of 80 percent of convicted felons. A felon’s claw occurs when you make a straight down stroke and immediately go into a claw shape, comparable to an upside-down "U" but much more angular. It looks like a claw. This person has bad instincts and bitterness.

Tips & Warnings

• For more information about graphology and how you can use it, read Andrea McNichol's book "Handwriting Analysis: Putting It to Work for You".
• Don’t hire or fire a person based solely on his handwriting; however, learning to detect certain handwriting characteristics can give you the edge and might prevent you from making a mistake when it comes to personnel. Handwriting is unique, just as our fingerprints are. It can reveal more than some of us might intend to reveal to prospective employers.

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