Graphology: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific interpretationanalysis of handwriting}}

{{distinguishfor2|text=[[Graphanalysis]], the forensic examination of handwritten documents|Graphanalysis|the asstudy aof branchwriting systems|Graphemics|the study of questionedmathematical documentgraphs|Graph examinationtheory}}

'''Graphology''' is the analysis of [[handwriting]] within an attempt to determine someonethe writer's [[personality traitstrait]]s. NoIts scientificmethods evidenceand existsconclusions toare supportnot graphologysupported by scientific evidence,<ref name="DriverBuckleyFrink1996">{{cite journal |last1=Driver |first1=Russell W. |last2=Buckley |first2=M. Ronald |last3=Frink |first3=Dwight D. |title=Should We Write Off Graphology? |journal=International Journal of Selection and Assessment |date=April 1996 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=78–86 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2389.1996.tb00062.x }}</ref><ref name="NYT1">{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Roger |title=In France, It's How You Cross the t's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/19/business/in-france-it-s-how-you-cross-the-t-s.html |work=The New York Times |date=19 October 1993 }}</ref> and as such it is generally considered to be a [[pseudoscience]].<ref name=nevo1986/><ref name=Graph_Beyer_PBS/><ref name="ReferenceA">{{Scientific American Frontiers|8|2|BEYOND SCIENCE? Paper Personality}}</ref><ref name = Dunning>{{Skeptoid|id=4363|number=363|title=All About Graphology|access-date=2 September 2016}}</ref> or scientifically questionable practice.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Graphology|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=April 25, 2017|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/graphology |quote=In general, the scientific basis for graphological interpretations of personality is questionable.}}</ref> However, it remains in widespread use in [[France]]<ref name="NYT1"/><ref>{{cite news|title=A French love affair... with graphology|first=Hugh|last=Schofield|work=BBC News|location=Paris|date=29 April 2013|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22198554 }}</ref> and has historically been considered legitimate for use in some court cases.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bishop|first=Paul|year=2017|title=Ludwig Klages and the Philosophy of Life: A Vitalist Toolkit|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781138697157|page=5}}</ref> The term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to [[questioned document examination|forensic document examination]], due to the fact that aspects of the latter dealing with the examination of handwritten documents are occasionally referred to as ''[[graphanalysis]]''.

Historian Laurens Schlicht states that while graphology failed to become a scientific discipline, many experts in [[experimental psychology]] and [[psychiatry]] participated in the endeavour to study graphology within a broader, more recognized science of expression, and that "to qualify something as pseudoscience can thus easily result in an unsystematic examination of a historical constellation of knowledge production."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schlicht|first=Laurens|year=2020|title=Graphology in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s|journal=NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin|volume=28|issue=2|pages=149–179|doi=10.1007/s00048-020-00246-8|pmid=32333033|doi-access=free}}</ref> Graphology has been controversial for more than a century. Although supportersproponents point to thepositive testimonials as [[anecdotal evidence]] of positive testimonials as a reason to useits itutility for personality evaluation, empiricalthese studiesclaims failhave tonot showbeen the validity claimedsupported by itsscientific supportersstudies.<ref name="DriverBuckleyFrink1996"/><ref name="Furnham1987">{{cite journal |last1=Furnham |first1=Adrian |last2=Gunter |first2=Barrie |title=Graphology and personality: Another failure to validate graphological analysis |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |date=January 1987 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=433–435 |doi=10.1016/0191-8869(87)90045-6 }}</ref> It has also been rated byas mentalamong healththe professionalsmost asdiscredited onemethods of thepsychological topanalysis fiveby mosta discreditedsurvey psychologicalof testsmental health professionals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Norcross|first1=John C.|last2=Koocher|first2=Gerald P.|last3=Garofalo|first3=Ariele|date=2006|title=Discredited psychological treatments and tests: A Delphi poll.|url=https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0735-7028.37.5.515|journal=Professional Psychology: Research and Practice|volume=37|issue=5|pages=515–522|doi=10.1037/0735-7028.37.5.515|issn=1939-1323|quote=Five tests rated by at least 25% of the experts in terms of being discredited for a specific purpose received mean scores of 4.0 or higher: Luscher Color Test, Szondi Test, handwriting analysis (graphology), Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (for assessment of neuropsychological impairment), eneagrams, and Lowenfeld Mosaic Test|via=}}</ref>

The word "graphology" isderives derived from ''grapho-'' (from the Greek {{lang|el|γραφή,}} "({{transl|el|grapho-}}; 'writing"'), and ''{{lang|el|[[logoswikt:λόγος|λόγος]]''}} (from the Greek {{transl|el|[[wikt:λόγος|λόγοςlogos]], which relates to discussion or}}; 'theory').<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.finedictionary.com/graphology.html|title = Fine Dictionary|access-date = 2014-09-22|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924013139/http://www.finedictionary.com/graphology.html|archive-date = 2015-09-24|url-status = live}}</ref>

In 1991, [[Jean-Charles Gille|Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani]] stated in 1991 that [[Juan Huarte de San Juan]]'s 1575 ''{{lang|es|Examen de ingenios para las ciencias''}} was the first book on handwriting analysis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gille-Maisani |first= Jean-Charles |year=1991 |title=Psicología de la Escritura |trans-title=Psychology of Handwriting) |location=Barcelona |publisher=Herder|isbn=978-84-254-1705-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Huarte |first=Juan |title=Examen de ingenios para las ciencias |trans-title=Examination of inventions for the sciences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6v4rNcFzqUC |year=1846 |publisher=Imprenta R. Campuzano |location=Madrid |language=es |orig-year=1575}}</ref> In American graphology, [[Camillo Baldi]]'s ''{{lang|it|Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualità dello scrittore''}} from 1622 is considered to be the first book.<ref name="ROMAN1952"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Baldi |first=Camillo |author-link=Camillo Baldi |title=Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualità dello scrittore |trans-title=Treatise on from a missive letter knowing the nature and quality of the writer |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8597375 |location=Carpi |publisher=Girolamo Vaschieri |year=1622 |language=it |access-date=2016-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121092829/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8597375 |archive-date=2016-11-21 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{clarification needed|date=January 2024}}

Around 1830, [[Jean-Hippolyte Michon]] became interested in handwriting analysis. He published his findings<ref>{{Citation

}}</ref> shortly after founding ''Société Graphologique'' in 1871. The most prominent of his disciples was [[Jules Crépieux-Jamin]], who rapidly published a series of books<ref>{{Citation

French Psychiatristpsychiatrist Joseph Rogues De Fursac combined graphology and psychiatry in athe 1905 book, ''{{lang|fr|Les ecrits et les dessins dans les maladies mentales et nerveuses}}.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fursac |first=Joseph Rogues de |url=https://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100605411 |title=Les écrits et les dessins dans les maladies nerveuses et mentales |date=1905 |publisher=Masson, Paris |edition=first publication}}</ref>

After [[World War&nbsp;I]], interest in graphology continued to spread in Europe as well asand the United States. In Germany during the 1920s, [[Ludwig Klages]] founded and published his findingfindings in ''{{lang|de|Zeitschrift für Menschenkunde''}} (''Journal for the Study of Mankind''). His major contribution to the field can be found in ''{{lang|de|Handschrift und Charakter''}}.<ref>{{Citation

In 1929, Milton Bunker founded The American Grapho Analysis Society teaching [[graphoanalysis]]. This organization and its system split the American graphology world in two. Students had to choose between graphoanalysis or holistic graphology. While hard data is lacking, anecdotal evidenceaccounts indicatesindicate that 10% of the members of International Graphoanalysis Society (IGAS) were expelled between 1970 and 1980.<ref>{{Citation

== ProfessionalUse statusby employers ==

Graphology was also dismissed as a pseudo-sciencepseudoscience by the skeptic [[James Randi]] in 1991.<ref>{{youTube|NeYkOHQ683k|James Randi and a Graphologist}}</ref>

In his May 21, 2013 [[Brian Dunning (author)#Skeptoid podcasts|Skeptoid podcast]] episode titled "All About Graphology,", [[Skeptical movement|scientific skeptic]] author [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]] reports:<ref name= Dunning /><blockquote>In his book ''The Write Stuff'', Barry Beyerstein summarized the work of Geoffrey Dean, who performed probably the most extensive literature survey of graphology ever done. Dean did a meta-analysis on some 200 studies:

Dean showed that graphologists have unequivocally failed unequivocally to demonstrate theany validity or reliability of their art for predicting work performance, aptitudes, or personality. Graphology thus fails according to the standards which a genuine psychological test must pass before it can ethically be released for use on an unsuspectingthe public.

Dean found that no particular school of graphology fared better than any other... In fact, no graphologist of any stripekind was able to show reliably better performance than untrained amateurs making guesses from the same materials. In the vast majority of studies, neither group exceeded chance expectancy.</blockquote>

Dunning concludes:<ref name = Dunning/><blockquote>Other divining techniques like [[iridology]], [[phrenology]], [[palmistry]], and [[astrology]] also have differing schools of thought, require years of training, offer expensive certifications, and fail just as soundly when put to a [[Scientific method|scientific controlled test]]. Handwriting analysis does have its plausible-sounding separation from those other techniques though, and that's the whole "handwriting is brainwriting" idea — traits from the brain will be manifested in the way that it controls the muscles of the hand. Unfortunately, this is just as unscientific as the others. No amount of sciencey sounding language can make up for a technique failing when put to a scientifically controlled test.</blockquote>

* The [[Forer effect|Barnum effect]] (the tendency to interpret vague statements as specifically meaningful) and the [[Dr. Fox effect]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ware |first1=J E |last2=Williams |first2=R G |title=The Dr. Fox effect: a study of lecturer effectiveness and ratings of instruction |journal=Academic Medicine |date=February 1975 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=149–156 |doi=10.1097/00001888-197502000-00006 |pmid=1120118 |doi-access=free }}</ref> (the tendency for supposed experts to be validated based on likeability rather than actual skill) make it difficult to validate methods of personality testing. These phenomena describe the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. See, for example, Tallent (1958).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tallent |first1=Norman |title=On individualizing the psychologist's clinical evaluation |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology |date=1958 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=243–244 |doi=10.1002/1097-4679(195807)14:3<243::aid-jclp2270140307>3.0.co;2-a |pmid=13549608 }}</ref> Non-individualized graphological reports give credence to this criticism.

* Vagueness: Some important principles of graphology are vague enough to allow significant room for a graphologist to skew interpretations to suit a subject or preconceived conclusion. For example, one of the main concepts in the theory of [[Ludwig Klages]] is ''{{lang|fr|form-niveau''}} (or ''form-level''): the overall level of originality, beauty, harmony, style, ''etc.'' of a person's handwriting—a quality that, according to Klages, can be perceived but not measured. According to this theory, the same sign has a positive or negative meaning depending on the subject's overall character and personality as revealed by the ''form-niveau''. In practice, this can lead the graphologist to interpret signs positively or negatively depending on whether the subject has high or low social status.<ref>Ulfried Geuter, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=nG9TDItv-QQC&pg=PA95 The Professionalization of Psychology in Nazi Germany]'', pp. 95–96. [[Cambridge University Press]], 1992.</ref>

== ApproachesSystems ==

Integrative graphology focuses on the strokes and their purported relation to personality.<ref name="Sciences 360">{{Cite web|url = http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/handwriting-analysis-and-the-secrets-of-graphology-3-22964/|title = Handwriting Analysis and the Secrets of Graphology|access-date = 2014-09-22|website = Sciences 360|publisher = Helium, Inc.|last = Carter|first = Molly|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140704202319/http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/handwriting-analysis-and-the-secrets-of-graphology-3-22964/|archive-date = 2014-07-04|url-status = live}}</ref> Graphoanalysis was the most influential system in the United States, between 1929 and 2000.{{cn|date=March 2022}}

[[Holism|Holistic]] graphology is based on form, movement, and use of space.<ref name="Sciences 360" /> ThereIt are several methods that use psychographs oruses [[psychogram]]s, specific diagrams, to analyze handwriting.<ref name="ROMAN1952">{{Citation| last = Roman| first = Klara G. | title = Handwriting: A Key to Personality| place= New York| publisher = Pantheon Books| year = 1952| edition = 1st}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last = Anthony| first = Daniel S.| title = The Graphological Psychogram: Psychological meanings of its Sectors; Symbolic Interpretation of its Graphic Indicators| place= Fort Lauderdale, FL; New York NY| orig-year = 1964| year = 1983| edition = Revised}}</ref>

=== In Hungary ===

=== In the United States ===

A 1991 review of the then-current literature concluded that respondents were able to predict the gender of handwriting between 57 and 78% of the time.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/0141192910170204|title=Sex Differences in Handwriting: A comment on Spear|year=1991|last1=Hartley|first1=James|journal=British Educational Research Journal|volume=17|issue=2|pages=141–145}}</ref> However, most of these samples, as well as subsequent studies, are based on small sample sizes that are collected nonrandomlynon-randomly. A much larger and more recent survey of over 3,000 participants only found a classification accuracy of 54%.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blog.survata.com/identifying-gender-by-handwriting-youre-probably-not-as-good-at-it-as-you-think#:~:text=Gender%20equality&text=Men%20identified%20male%20handwriting%20successfully,of%2049%25%20to%2045%25 |title=Identifying gender by handwriting — you're probably not as good at it as you think |access-date=2020-09-17 |archive-date=2020-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810042715/https://blog.survata.com/identifying-gender-by-handwriting-youre-probably-not-as-good-at-it-as-you-think#:~:text=Gender%20equality&text=Men%20identified%20male%20handwriting%20successfully,of%2049%25%20to%2045%25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As statistical discrimination below 0.7 is generally considered unacceptable,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve in Diagnostic Test Assessment |journal=Journal of Thoracic Oncology |date=1 September 2010 |volume=5 |issue=9 |pages=1315–1316 |doi=10.1097/JTO.0b013e3181ec173d |last1=Mandrekar |first1=Jayawant N. |pmid=20736804 |doi-access=free }}</ref> this indicates that most results are rather inaccurate,<ref>{{Cite book|doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-01424-7_60|chapter = Handwriting-Based Gender Classification Using End-to-End Deep Neural Networks|title = Artificial Neural Networks and Machine Learning – ICANN 2018|series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science|year = 2018|last1 = Illouz|first1 = Evyatar|last2 = (Omid) David|first2 = Eli|last3 = Netanyahu|first3 = Nathan S.|volume = 11141|pages = 613–621|arxiv = 1912.01816|isbn = 978-3-030-01423-0|s2cid = 52909281}}</ref> and that variation in results observed is likely due to sampling technique and bias.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=Sean |title=Handwriting and Gender: A multi-use data set |journal=Journal of Statistics Education |date=March 2015 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1080/10691898.2015.11889721 |s2cid=123033133 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A company takes a writing sample provided by an applicant, and proceeds to dodoes a personality profile, supposedly matching the congruencycongruence of the applicant with the ideal psychological profile of employees in the position. ApplicantThe applicant can also malpractice in this system; they may ask someone to write on their behalf.<ref>{{Citation

Research in employment suitability has ranged from complete failure;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lighton |first=R.&nbsp;E. |title=A Graphological Examination of the Handwriting of Air Pilots|journal=Thesis in the Faculty of Arts |publisher=University of Pretoria|year=1934}}</ref> to guarded

The use of graphology in the hiring process has been criticized on ethical grounds<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Daryl |last=Koehn|title=Handwriting Analysis In Pre-Employment Screening|journal=The Online Journal of Ethics|volume=1|issue=1}}</ref> and on legal grounds in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Julie |last=Spohn|title=The Legal Implications of Graphology|journal=Washington University Law Quarterly|volume=73|issue=3|date=Fall 1997}}</ref>

Graphology has been used clinically by counselors and psychotherapists. When it is used, it is generally used alongside other projective personality assessment tools, and not in isolation. It is often used within individual [[psychotherapy]], marital counseling, or vocational counseling.<ref>Poizner, Annette (2012). Clinical Graphology: An Interpretive Manual for Mental Health Practitioners. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publishers</ref>

This''Graphotherapy'' is the pseudoscience of changing a person's handwriting with the goal of changing features of his or her personality, or "handwriting analysis in reverse."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Shermer |editor-first=Michael |title=The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA119|volume=1|year=2002|publisher=Skeptic's Society|isbn=978-1-57607-653-8|page=119}}</ref> It originated in France during the 1930s, spreading to the United States in the late 1950s.<ref name="destpaul">{{Citation |last= de Sainte Columbe |first= Paul |title= Grapho Therapeutics: Pen and Pencil Therapy |location= Hollywood, CA |publisher= Paul de St Columbe Center |year= 1972 |edition= 2nd}}</ref> The purported therapy consists of a series of exercises which are similar to those taught in basic [[calligraphy]] courses, sometimes in conjunction with music or positive self-talk.