Graphology is the study of handwriting and the person who is an expert in this are called Graphologists. Graphology is the analysis of the physical characteristics of a person’s handwriting or signature and determines their personality characteristics, character, or state of the person’s mind at the time of writing.
A person’s handwriting is something that comes from the person’s subconscious mind so the information derived from the handwriting is true and real.
Handwriting has been empirically through thousands of samples as being absolutely indicative as to what the personality is, so handwriting or a signature of an individual can tell about the individual’s personality, thinking, and behavior. Graphology helps a lot in forensic science.
For example- If a suicide note is found at the crime scene, to an extend graphologists can determine in what state of mind the person was in when he/she was writing that suicide note and also about his/her personality.
Characteristics determining the personality of a person
- If a person writes in big letters, the person is likely to be an extrovert, tend to be outgoing, people-oriented, and attention-seeking. Graphologists also believe that he is putting up a front and pretending to be confident.
- On the other end writing small means the person is focused, meticulous, and also shy.
- People whose handwriting is average-sized (2.5to 3.5 millimeters) are balanced and accept themselves the way they are. Such people can adjust to the environment and can be both introverted and extroverted.
- If the writing slants to the left then the person is reserved and likes to keep it to themselves. They like to work behind the scenes and not get too much attention.
- If the handwriting slants right then the person is outgoing and has a keen interest in the future. They are open to new experiences and like meeting new people.
- If the slant is straight then the person is logical and practical.
- If the slant changes dramatically then the person must be lying at the state of time.
- If the slop of the writing goes up then the person is optimistic and has a positive attitude and alternatively, if the slope goes down it’s a sign of feeling down and depressed at that movement.
- Handwriting that goes up and down reveals that the person is a more logical and very rational person.
- The pressure of the strokes makes a difference, writing with high pressure could mean that the person is intense, sensual, and vigorous.
- Average pressure points out that the person is calmer.
- Light pressure means that the person is introvert and have low energy.
- Space between words also tells about personality, words closely bunched together means the person feels isolated and wants to near people and alternatively the gap between words means the person wants to be left alone.
- If the cross of “t’’ is right in the middle then the person is confident and comfortable in their own skin, and if they cross is short the person is lazy and doesn’t have determination.
- The dot of a person’s lower case ‘’I’’ also tells about their personality, if the dot is right over the ‘i’ then the person is organized and detail-oriented, if the dot is in a circle form then the person is childlike and visionary.
- If a person tends to write with a combination of print and cursive, the person values flexibility and usually in a hurry but if a person writes too much in block letters then the person might have intimacy issues.
- Handwriting can even catch if a person is lying, if a person’s handwriting is closer together, out of alignment, or totally different from the rest of the writing, it probably means the person is lying about something.
The signature is not your personality, the signature is the personality that you present to the world, it’s the way a person wants to be seen, it’s the persona.
There is a strange connection between handwriting and signature.
If a person’s handwriting and signature matches, if it looks like the signature is just written in the handwriting then there is no persona but if the handwriting and signature are completely different from each other, the person is making a presentation, he is holding something about himself back and isn’t being completely open about who they are. The science of signature is a little bit iffy.
Read also:- Contribution of Neuroscience to Forensic science
Characteristics in signature determining the personality
- If a person has an ascending signature (meaning if it went up the page) – It is a sign of ambition, optimism, creativity, and vitality. The person is feeling good.
- Descending signature (meaning if it went down the page)- The person is skeptic, pessimistic or the person is in a little struggle and feeling down at that point of time.
- Straight like an arrow – It is a sign of balance and control. The person is likely to be very organized and self-sufficient.
- The bigger the signature the more the confidence means if a person’s signature is overly big then he has a lot of confidence that may be too much to go around.
- If a person has a tiny signature then the person needs to pump themselves a little to claim their place.
How clear and readable a signature is?
Legibility tells something about how a person thinks.
Illegible signatures tend to single quick mind and also tend to mean you are not bogged down by the details and feel their action speaks for themselves so their signatures have to.
Legible signatures are a sign of open and straightforwardness.
If a person signs with just his initials or nicknames or even just the first name, this is a sign of independent streak and efficiency.
Embellishment like heart or t with a flourish at the end also tells something about a person’s personality. A normal person will not focus on such things graphologists surely will.
If a person adds a long line to the end of the signature, the expert takes it as a sign of determination, drive, and preservance.
If a person has a hard stop at the end of the signature, this is a sign of a strong sense of self and seriousness.
Graphologists and researchers of written language say that more embellishments the more complicated the person and the simpler the signature the more straightforward the person.
‘t’ Bars and ‘i’ Dots
How a person places a dot in ‘i’ and ‘t’ bars.
If the bar on the ‘t’ is high then the person has good self-esteem and optimistic and these people have distinct goals and alternatively the ‘t’ bar which is low tells that the person underestimates their own ability, someone who does not believe in themselves and a person with low self-esteem
If the dot of ‘i’ is right above I then the person is organized, if the I dot is to the left, the person is lazy, if the I dot is to the right the person is focused and if the I dot is missing then the person is confused, individual.
Graphology is considered as a pseudo-science to date as it is not been proven scientifically yet, some studies have proven it to be really effective but at the same time analyzing handwriting or signature for determining personality has also proven negative in many studies because of a lack of evidence.
‘By Ambika Devi’
She is currently pursuing M.Sc. Forensic Science from CTM-IRTE Faridabad. She also worked as an intern in Kerala FSL and has participated in an online non-credit course on ”Information Security” authorized by the University of London and Royal Holloway and offered through Coursera.