July 29, 2004

The fact that our handwriting is so clearly determined by some of the motor regions of our brain has led to some surprisingly insightful analyses of illnesses that affect these regions, writes Tazeen Mohsin

In the late 1950s, New York was in the grip of panic over a series of explosions caused by the “Mad Bomber”. On December 26, 1956, the bomber wrote to a New York paper explaining the various grievances he had against New York City. The newspaper printed his letters on its front page. But when it gave a graphologist’s interpretation of the Mad Bomber’s handwriting, his vanity was piqued. He wrote to complain that the interpretation was wrong, thus providing more clues about himself that eventually led to his capture.

Considered both an art and science, graphology is more popularly known as handwriting analysis. It involves the study of handwriting with the aim of revealing the character and personality of the writer, including his or her strengths, weaknesses and abilities. It is not soothsaying, palm reading, tarot, fortune telling or any other metaphysical belief. It is based on physical scientific data and is a recognized science, a sub-field of psychology.

No two writings are exactly alike. Our writing is as unique as our fingerprints. Handwriting is an expression of the true self. It can be more accurately referred to as “brain writing”. This is because it is the brain and not the hand that really writes; the handwriting is so fast and automatic, that it becomes a habit and is performed automatically and without thinking. Because we are not consciously thinking while we are writing, we allow our unconscious to show through in the handwriting.

This is similar to a person’s speech which has the same aspects as handwriting; the content we communicate, is produced by conscious thought; but no one really thinks of how to pronounce or speak each individual syllable in order to form these words. Speaking is as automatic as handwriting.

Michel Rijntjes and his colleagues at the University of Hamburg asked volunteers to write with their hands and toes while being examined by a brain scanner. They found that the posterior parietal cortex, the part of the brain nearest to the top of the head, was one of the main seats of writing whichever limb was used. The area is important for controlling all kinds of movements. Visual areas of the brain, surprisingly, were not very active. But this makes sense considering skilled writers complete a stroke within 100 milliseconds, leaving no time for feedback correction based on vision. We use vision only to place letters and sentences correctly on the page.

Ironically, the finding about the parietal lobe is particularly troublesome for standard graphology as the region is not strongly associated with personality, which is thought to “reside” mostly in the frontal lobes.

The fact that our handwriting is so clearly determined by some of the motor regions of our brain has led to some surprisingly insightful analyses of illness that affect these regions. Subtle changes in a person’s handwriting might reveal neurological and psychiatric conditions years before other symptoms become obvious. Multiple sclerosis, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorders are just some of the conditions that affect handwriting in specific ways. These findings help provide clues as to the location of the various disorders in the brain and could be even used to help diagnosis. Child graphology helps parents and teachers to understand a child. Children usually start learning to write at the age of six. This sub-field allows the graphologist to determine early warning signs of problems such as child abuse, sexual abuse, learning disabilities, and psychological and emotional problems. Think of the remedial measures that can be taken with a child just beginning to form his personality. Aggression, timidity, health problems that might be germinating due to unknown reasons can be detected, corrected or pre-empted.

Graphology has been in use in American courts since the late 1800s. Legal precedents have been set regarding handwriting analysis. One court ruled that handwriting is “behaviour in public” and that using it as the basis of personality analysis cannot be judged as an invasion of privacy. Furthermore, between five and 10 per cent of the British and US companies use this technique for hiring. It is common for major corporations in Italy, Spain, France and Israel to regularly use graphology for personnel selection. Companies use graphology for:

1) Recruitment - It is able to reveal strengths and weaknesses that may not show up in the interview. A candidate’s capabilities may be masked by interview nerves, while another, who could be less suitable, may interview well.

2) Short listing - It can save time, money and effort in this area by seeing that the essential characteristics required for the job are present.

3) Composing a team - When it is not desirable to recruit new people, it may be helpful to reassess existing staff and change their duties so that they can become more efficient and productive. Analysing the writing will highlight strengths and weaknesses and pinpoint the right person.

4) Potential -- In determining promotional prospects, thus saving the embarrassment and inevitable problems caused when someone is promoted beyond their capabilities.

5) Motivation - It can be useful in determining an employee’s goals, and thus in helping to find the right slot in the organisation for mutual benefit.

6) Stress - Handwriting can help to determine people’s stress levels and how they cope with various situations.

7) Monitoring - Changing behaviour patterns and attitudes occur over time. When one sees the same people daily, the differences may not be apparent.

Handwriting analysis is particularly useful in monitoring individuals as it can chart progress or decline. It can also track changing habits of a serious nature stemming from alcohol to drug abuse.

But what do you look for when you analyze someone’s handwriting? One would evaluate features such as the size and shape of letter forms, the slant, the margins used, spacing between letters, words and lines, connective forms, rhythm, evenness, beginning and end strokes, the regular signature of the person, and much more.

Handwriting analysis cannot reveal everything. Well-trained graphologists often offer 95 per cent accuracy in personality analysis. It can’t always predict the attitude a person will take or the exact choices they will make. It also cannot predict the future. Nor can it tell age or sex; as people and their writing mature at different rates and most of us have some masculine and some feminine traits. Graphology does show, however, how a person acts, feels and thinks. It symbolizes a person’s state of mind and personality at the time of writing, signifies past behaviour and shows potential for future conduct.

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