Yet think of handwriting as a kind of Rorschach (or inkblot) test:
if 95% of schizophrenics do certain things in their writing that the
average population does not, we can safely conclude that individuals who
exhibit these traits in their handwriting have the potential to be
schizophrenics.
There are actually five types of deductions graphologists use in
making their analyses:
1. Physiological Deductions. Graphologists use these deductions to
determine the physical state of the writer, including sickness, drug use
or abuse, and even the writer's true identity. If a writer's hand shakes,
his writing will shake; if a writer feels pressure or tension (as in a
forgery), he will press down harder on the page.
2. Commonsense Deductions. Sometimes there is no other conclusion
that one can draw from a handwriting sample other than a commonsense one.
Neat people write neatly, illiterate people will write incorrectly,
people who dislike their names may sign them in an indecipherable scrawl
or finish them with a line through the middle-effectively crossing out
their names.
3. Deductions Using Universal Concepts. Anthropologist Desmond
Morris identified certain body language traits that are universal to all
cultures-expressions of happiness and sadness, pain and pleasure, anger
a-nd affection.
Handwriting is a trace of your body movements-it is body language
on paper, and all the same associations apply: a person who's feeling
more up will write in that direction; one who feels bigger about herself
will write her name larger.
4. Simple Psychological Interpretations. To make accurate
psychological interpretations, one has to be aware of basic psychological
principles. For example, Freud broadly applied the principle that when
something is overdone, it actually means the opposite-you are
compensating for that which you feel you lack.
To illustrate this, if someone wrote the phrase "I love you" and
wrote the word "love" twice as large as the others, it would probably
mean that he or she does not love you.
As Shakespeare said, "The lady doth protest too much
methinks."
5. The Scientific Method. The science of graphology is also based
on empirical research. To determine which handwriting traits correspond
to a particular characteristic, graphologists study large numbers of
handwriting samples from people who have been identified as having that
characteristic, and look for traits that occur more frequently in their
handwriting than in that of the general population.
For example, one such study found that when convicted felons are
asked to write on a blank, page, a statistically significant number of
them do not line up their left margins. Criminals, obviously, do not "toe
the line" of society. Graphologists have identified 25 different
handwriting traits that a-re significandy more common among convicted
felons than in others.
"BRAINWRITING"
Graphology is the study of all graphic movement- it is not simply
"handwriting analysis' " In addition to handwriting, a graphologist
studies doodles, drawings, sculptures, and paintings in order to gain
insight into the physical, mental, and emotional states of the writer or
artist.
Can you produce "handwriting" without a hand? Try this experiment:
Hold a pen in your mouth and sign your name on a piece of paper. Whose
handwriting were you trying to imitate? If you were really forced to
learn to write this way, after enough practice you would eventually
produce the same "handwriting" with your mouth that you currently produce
with your hands. Studies of thousands of people who have lost the use of
their hands show that they eventually produce the same unique
"handwriting" they had when they could use their hands.
The point is that it's not our hand or mouth or toes that decide
which way the pen will go across the paper. Those decisions actually come
from our brains. So when we produce any graphic movement, we are actually
"brainwriting" leaving our "brain prints" behind on the paper. By
studying these brain prints, graphologists are able to discern what was
going on inside the writer's mind when he or she made certain distinctive
movements, altered the size or style, or left significant gaps in the
writing produced.
After just a few minutes of looking at a complete stranger's
handwriting, a graphologist can correctly, determine the following
characteristics about the writer:
o Country/Region of origin
o Level of intelligence
o Emotional stability
o Aptitudes and talents
o Leadership qualities
o Honesty level
o Physical activity level
o Work/school performance
o Alcoholism or drug abuse.
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