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What is Graphology?

We are all taught to write at school and it is the way we have deviated from that original copybook that reveals our personality.Ìý Handwriting can tell a great deal about the writer and gives many clues to potential, fears and areas for development.Ìý The writing and its placing on the page express the unique impulses of the individual; the brain sends signals along the muscles to the writing implement that is beingÌý controlled. By examining the handwriting or ‘brainwriting’ a trained graphologist is able to identify relevant features of the script and their interaction.Ìý

When looking at a person it is easy to tell when they are feeling fed-up or depressed, their shoulders might be down and the voice could be heavy and flat.Ìý When feeling happy, the head is up, shoulders are back, they smile and have vitality inÌý the voice.Ìý The pen strokes on a piece of paper symbolize the writer's feelings at the time of writing and often parallel their facial expression and tone of voice. ie. the body language.Ìý The writing reflects the way the writer is experiencing the world and how he functions in it.Ìý Handwriting is as individual as a fingerprint and, in many subtle ways, unique to the writer. Instead of analysing the movement of the hand, as would be the case with body language, graphologists are trained to analyse the results of the hand movements and the writing on the page.Ìý

Each aspect of handwriting (eg. size, slant, spacing, pressure etc.) conveys meaning in a general way because of the symbolism associated with it.ÌýÌý Basic interpretations show how each movement relates to a different aspect of someone’s personality or behaviour.Ìý If a piece of writing looks very tidy this reflects a tidy mind and a well organised lifestyle.Ìý If the writing dominates the space the writer will tend to dominate people around them.Ìý Quick lively writing reflects a person who has quick mental ability.Ìý An original style shows individuality and difficultly to read writing suggests someone who is not a good communicator.Ìý But general interpretations are not specific to the writer because they do not take into account other features in the writing.Ìý It is important to remember that no one handwriting movement means any one personality trait.Ìý It is the combination of all the different elements within the writing that builds up the picture of the individual. For each interpretation to be correct it needs 3 different handwriting movements with the same meaning to be present.ÌýÌý

It is also important to remember that there is no perfect writing style.Ìý We all have strengths and limitations and graphology can be useful in revealing these to help us grow and develop as individuals.Ìý Most graphological features have both positive and negative interpretations and the decision as to which is appropriate will be on the basis of how the writing flows and what other features are in combination. The words that are written on the page are irrelevant to the analysis and the graphologist cannot tell age, gender, nationality, or occupation of the writer. First impressions of a writing are important as they can direct you to the dominant and therefore most important handwriting movements.Ìý There will be writings where they are more contradictory elements than complementary.Ìý This will mean that the writer has inner conflicts that he may find difficult to reconcile.Ìý These may be unconscious and will not always be recognised by the writer.ÌýÌý

The science of graphology uses at least 300 different handwriting features in its investigative process.Ìý Precise rules are followed to measure the writing movements such as zones, size, slant, width, pressure, degree of connection, connective forms , end and start strokes, baselines, space between words and lines, layout on the page, signature.ÌýÌý Some of these elements are basic to the very nature of the writer and chosen unconsciously.Ìý Some are more superficial and can change with moodÌý ie. slant and size.ÌýÌý If a person is excited or angry their writing is more likely to grow in size and slant more to the right, with heavy pressure.Ìý If they are sad, depressed or concentrating, their writing probably shrinks and slants more upright or to the left with lighter pressure.

Graphology is a very old and respected science first developed by the Chinese 3,000 years ago.Ìý The Romans used it and through the centuries and since then various civilisations and cultures have analysed handwriting.ÌýÌý The modern approach was established by a group of French clerics who defined key aspects of the science in the 1870s after 30 years of study.Ìý This work formed the basis of modern graphology although it it still being researched and expanded today.Ìý Professional graphologists operate to a strict code of ethics and are constantly in demand: those who use it recognise its value in the workplace as an additional method of understanding character.Ìý It is an extremely useful tool in identifying the quality and capacity of an individual’s talents and potential particularly in career guidance and improving relationships as well as enabling the individual to understand himself better.Ìý

Gill looks at signatures in her guide

Our expert

Gill Beale is a Diploma holder and current secretary with the British Institute of Graphologists having studied the subject for many years.Ìý It is an endlessly fascinating subjectÌýwhich started for her as a hobby.Ìý

She has now joined forces with ´óÏó´«Ã½ Oxford and wants to unearth what your handwriting says about you!

You can find out more about Graphology by visiting the British Institute of Graphologists website (link on the top right) or you can email Gill directly by clicking below: