| |
|
Graphology:
Frequently Asked Questions
1.
What is graphology?
2. When did graphology start? Is it a science?
3.
Where can graphology be used?
4.
What are the advantages of using graphology
in commercial organizations?
5.
Where is graphology commonly used?
6. What can graphology tell about a person?
7. How accurate is graphology?
8. How does graphology work?
9. What is the connection between personality
and handwriting?
10. Does it matter if the writer is left-handed?
11. Why do graphologists ask for information
about the age, sex and handedness of the writer?
12. My handwriting changes from time to
time. How is an accurate analysis possible?
13. Doesn’t handwriting change according
to the writing instrument and the writing surface used?
14. If the subject masks his natural handwriting,
can he fool the graphologist?
15. Can graphology tell the future?
16. If handwriting reflects the personality,
is the reverse also true? If I change my handwriting will it reflect in
a change in my personality?
17. What is the significance of the signature?
1.
What is graphology?
Graphology is the art and science of analyzing human personality through
the study of graphic movement, such as handwriting and drawings, to gain
insights into the mental, physical and emotional states of the writer.
return
to questions
2. When did graphology start? Is it a science?
Graphology started as a formally researched science in the 17th century
in Europe, though there are references to it’s use dating back to
Greek and Roman times. Graphology is a well-researched science, as exact
as any branch of psychology. Researchers have studied thousands upon thousands
of specimens of handwriting to correlate handwriting characteristics with
known personality traits such as intelligence, aptitudes, attitudes, temperament,
motivation and integrity. The science is well documented and widely accepted
as a valuable tool in understanding people.
return
to questions
3.
Where can graphology be used?
Graphology can be used with great advantage in any field where it is important
to understand people well, such as:
• For self-understanding and self-improvement.
• To understand partners, associates and peers.
• By teachers to help in child development.
• By organizations for various H.R. applications.
• For selection and appraisal in defense forces.
• In psychiatry.
return
to questions
4.
What are the advantages of using graphology in commercial organizations?
In corporate life, graphology has great potential in Recruitment, Motivation,
Appraisal, Personality Profiling and Counseling; in other words, in building
stronger and more appropriate teams.
Organizations need methods that can evaluate the various aspects of employee
attitudes and values and gain information not normally available from
resumes, references and interviews. Such methods need to be easy to administer,
reproducible and objective.
Graphology provides such a method and has the advantage over other psychometric
tools that it can be applied without having to administer a formal test.
Moreover, distortion of the results by the subject trying to manipulate
a question and answer test is avoided. A graphological analysis can be
made from any specimen of handwriting and signature. In half an hour of
studying a subject’s handwriting, a skilled graphologist would know
more about him than after half a year of interaction with him.
return
to questions
5. Where is graphology commonly used?
Today, graphology is commonly used in U.S.A., Europe, Israel and South
America in corporate, defense and psychiatric areas - in fact, in any
area where it is important to understand people well.
It is estimated that 10% of all companies in England use graphology for
personnel screening and as many as 80% of French businesses use graphology
as a tool for the evaluation of applicants for various positions.
In India, graphology in H.R. is an untapped resource of great potential,
which is just starting to be accepted as a valid tool in determining personality
traits. Companies that have ventured to use graphology in H.R. have benefited
immensely.
return
to questions
6.
What can graphology tell about a person?
A graphological analysis performed by a skilled practitioner can reveal
extensive information about the intellectual, emotional and psychological
buildup of an individual, including areas such as intelligence, attitudes,
aptitudes, temperament, identity, ego and motivation, communications and
interpersonal skills, reliability, and affinities.
return
to questions
7.
How accurate is graphology?
As with any other rational science, the accuracy of graphology is a function
of the skill of the practitioner, in this case the graphologist. The handwriting
does not lie. Competently done, a graphological analysis can produce an
accuracy of over 95%.
return
to questions
8.
How does graphology work?
Your handwriting is a record of your personality, a mirror in which is
reflected your character and abilities, your thoughts and emotions, your
talents and ambitions, your attitude towards the past, the future and
towards the world around you. All these and much more are set down in
a permanent record by the strokes of your pen. It is essentially a graphic
expression of the neurological processes of the writer's brain.
If you were to compare samples of your handwriting at various times over
a period of years, you will notice how they vary. In school we were taught
to write in a cursive manner between four lines and our handwriting was
relatively uniform. Today, your handwriting bears little resemblance to
the samples from your school days. Just as your personality has developed
and changed over the years, so has your handwriting, it’s faithful
echo.
return
to questions
9.
What is the connection between personality and handwriting?
The reason for this relationship between personality and handwriting is
that every nervous or muscular movement originates in the brain. The hand
merely holds the writing instrument. It is the brain that directs its
movements, which are responsible for the way you write. Handwriting is
literally “brainwriting”, which like fingerprints, is uniquely
our own.
return
to questions
10.
Does it matter if the writer is left-handed?
As we have said, handwriting is really “brainwriting”. It
is therefore immaterial whether the writer is left-handed or right-handed.
It is a wrong impression that lefties predominantly write with a backhanded
stroke. The handedness of the writer does not make a difference to a graphological
analysis.
return
to questions
11.
Why do graphologists ask for information about the age, sex and handedness
of the writer?
The age, sex and handedness of the writer cannot be determined from the
handwriting. It is good for the record that this information is available
to the graphologist to validate some of his deductions. For example, rigid
writing may be the sign of a personality trait or may be produced by a
physical, age-related infirmity.
return
to questions
12.
My handwriting changes from time to time. How is an accurate analysis
possible?
Some qualities of ourselves and therefore of our handwriting are fixed,
and others are temporary and can change.
Fixed traits are either those with which we have been born, or those which
have developed and been fixed early in life by our early environment,
training and influences. Examples of fixed traits are:
• I.Q.
• Temperament
• Aptitudes
• Identity
Unfixed
traits can change, be developed and are shaped by the current environment,
training and influences. Examples of variable traits are:
• Ability
• Attitudes
• Moods
• Motivational Level
Both fixed and unfixed traits emerge from a graphological analysis.
return
to questions
13.
Doesn’t handwriting change according to the writing instrument and
the writing surface used?
Yes. Though basic handwriting traits do not change with the instrument
and surface, the finer points of the writing will certainly change. This
is why the best analysis is made with a writing instrument the writer
is most comfortable with and on a smooth an even surface. This is really
like the difference between practicing an art (whether medicine or painting)
with proper tools and practicing it under field conditions.
return
to questions
14.
If the subject masks his natural handwriting, can he fool the graphologist?
Not for long. Even though the writer tries to mask his natural writing,
he cannot do it for long and small characteristics of his normal handwriting
will show through and the handwriting will slowly revert to the normal
style. This is why, the larger the specimen of handwriting, the more complete
and accurate will be the analysis.
return
to questions
15.
Can graphology tell the future?
No, graphology cannot tell the future. Graphology is a rational science
and not an occult one. It is concerned with who the subject is and what
his state of mind is. However, graphology can bring out the strong and
weak points of the individual, which can be addressed to influence future
trends.
return
to questions
16.
If handwriting reflects the personality, is the reverse also true? If
I change my handwriting will it reflect in a change in my personality?
Yes! Influencing the personality by changing of the handwriting is a branch
of graphology called graphotherapy. If for example, you were a very careless
person, it would show in the carelessness and perhaps the large size of
your handwriting. By regularly practicing to write small and neatly you
would be forced to concentrate on what you are doing and your brain will
over a period of time be trained to change. However, it must be understood
that character traits have been built up over decades and changes cannot
be expected overnight.
return
to questions
17.
What is the significance of the signature?
Your handwriting images your inner self and your personality. Your signature
represents your public self-image, how you behave in public, what you
think of yourself in public and what you would like others to think of
you.
When you put down your signature, you are leaving your public identity
on the paper. You are telling the world, “This is me!” If
your signature is large, you are also saying, “Look at me!”
If the size and type of the letters in your signature are consistent with
your handwriting, your public image is consistent with the real you. If
however, your signature is different in size and type from your script,
you project a public image, which is different from the person you really
are. The same principles of graphology apply to the analysis of the signature
and reveal much additional information about the subject.
return
to questions
|
