Graphology focuses on analyzing human writing. People dealing with graphology argue that the handwriting of each person is like a fingerprint - unique for a given person - and by analyzing it, you can find out not only what the emotional state of a given person was at the time of writing a text, but even see if what is her personality. Check how graphology is used in psychology, find out what it is used for in forensics, and see where the criticism towards graphology comes from.

Contents:

  1. Graphology in psychology
  2. Graphology: what can you read from the magazine? Examples
  3. Graphology in forensics
  4. Criticism of graphology

Graphologyis a word that was created by combining the Greek words "grapho" (understood as writing) and "logos" (translated as science or theory). In the simplest terms, it can be said that graphology is a science about the written word. Ancient sages were already interested in analyzing writing, but Jean Hippolytus Michael, who lived in the 19th century, is considered to be the father of graphology. Apart from him, one of the most renowned people in the development of graphology was also Jules Crépieux-Jamin - this man extended the theories originally presented by Michael.

Graphology is of interest to many different people these days. You can come across it, for example, at universities - graphology classes are offered by, for example, universities that conduct training in forensics. We can often see graphologists in serials or crime movies. Scenes in such productions are popular, where on the basis of script analysis it is possible to discover who is behind the murder or to unravel some other, extremely difficult puzzle. Is it really possible to get so much information about a person through the analysis of the handwriting? According to graphologists - absolutely.

Graphology in psychology

Psychological analysis of handwriting is based on the assumption that just as every person has different fingerprints, everyone has a unique handwriting. Through graphological analysis, it is to be possible to find out many important things about a person. Graphologists argue that they are able to determine whether a person was calm at the time of writing a given text, or whetherirritable and upset.

Psychological analysis of handwriting would also allow to determine what is the type of human personality - writing certain letters in a certain way would suggest whether a given person is an introvert or an extrovert. One could assume that the above-mentioned aspects - emotional state at the time of writing or personality type - are rather general aspects that are rather easy to identify.

Graphologists claim, however, that by analyzing the written word they are able to tell a lot about a person. Certain features of scripture may indicate whether a person is open to others or closed in on himself. By analyzing other characteristics of the handwriting, it would be possible to determine whether a given person is reliable and accurate, or whether he or she performs his duties carelessly. A graphologist would also be able to determine whether the person whose writing he analyzes is an ambitious person. But what features of the handwriting are paid attention to in graphology? It turns out that in fact … all of them.

Graphology: what can you read from the magazine? Examples

Graphology actually draws attention to the smallest details in writing. The size of individual letters is important, as well as the angle at which they are slanted. What matters are the spaces between individual characters and words, as well as what abbreviations in the written language a given person uses.

The graphologist also carefully analyzes the pressure exerted during writing, but he also looks at the finishing of individual letters. In short, graphology focuses on aspects of writing that we do not pay attention to on a daily basis. It would be difficult to describe here all the relationships between the written word and the character traits or emotions of a person at the time of writing.

However, to illustrate what we are talking about, it is worth giving a few examples of what aspects of the script are generally analyzed:

  • way of writing the letter "o" : when it is closed, it would mean that the writer is introverted and his personality type corresponds to the introvert; in a situation where the letter "o" is not closed, suggest that it should be open to other people and be an extrovert;
  • the shape of the written letters : rounded characters potentially indicate high creativity; when they are tightly connected, to convince the writer's ability to think logically, while in a situation where individual letters are sharply ended, suggest that it should have a high level of aggression in a given person;
  • presence or absence of a dot above "i"and its position : the lack of a dot above the letter "i" is to convince that the writer is an absent-minded person; then, when the dot becomes a circle above the letter "i", the person writing is supposed to have the artist's soul, while in the situation when the dot is a dot and it is located just above the letter, it is to convince the writer of the good organization of the writer;
  • width of letters in sentences : narrow letters would be a sign of self-control, while broad letters should convince that the writer is an open and sociable person.

Graphology in forensics

The above-described and other features of the writing can be analyzed by psychologists, but also by specialists from another field. Graphology is often used in forensics. It allows not only to identify the authors of some anonymous documents, but also to check whether the document that is suspected of being falsified has actually been subjected to such manipulation.

Graphology can also be used in many other criminal cases. This is the case, for example, when a farewell letter is found next to a man who allegedly committed suicide. By graphological analysis, it is possible to check whether a given document was actually created by the deceased, or whether he is not its author - when it is suspected that the deceased did not write the letter himself, it is possible to put forward a hypothesis that the suicide was faked .

Important

Criticism of graphology

In forensics, graphology - though certainly not to such an extent as in movies or series - definitely plays a very important role and this is hardly criticized. However, it is different with the use of graphology in psychology.

Well, there are not infrequently voices of criticism that undermine the sense of analyzing emotions or various personality traits of people on the basis of a very reliable analysis of their handwriting. The lack of confidence in the results of graphological analyzes in this case is due to the fact that there are actually very few studies that would confirm the effectiveness of the use of graphology in psychology.

Category:

Psychology