Etymology
The word "graphology" derives from the Greek (; 'writing'), and (; 'theory').History
In 1991, Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani stated that Juan Huarte de San Juan's 1575 was the first book on handwriting analysis. In American graphology, Camillo Baldi's from 1622 is considered to be the first book. Around 1830, Jean-Hippolyte Michon became interested in handwriting analysis. He published his findings shortly after founding ''Société Graphologique'' in 1871. The most prominent of his disciples was Jules Crépieux-Jamin, who rapidly published a series of books that were soon published in other languages. Starting from Michon's integrative approach, Crépieux-Jamin founded a holistic approach to graphology. Alfred Binet was convinced to conduct research into graphology from 1893 to 1907. He called it "the science of the future" despite rejection of his results by graphologists. French psychiatrist Joseph Rogues De Fursac combined graphology and psychiatry in the 1905 book . AfterIn 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 to demonstrate any 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 the public. Dean found that no particular school of graphology fared better than any other. In fact, no graphologist of any kind 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.Dunning concludes:
Other divining techniques like iridology,phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ..., palmistry, andastrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...also have differing schools of thought, require years of training, offer expensive certifications, and fail just as soundly when put to a 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.
Use by employers
Although graphology had some support in the scientific community before the mid-twentieth century, more recent research rejects the validity of graphology as a tool to assess personality and job performance.Nevo, B ''Scientific Aspects Of Graphology: A Handbook'' Springfield, IL: Thomas: 1986 Today it is considered a pseudoscience. "they simply interpret the way we form these various features on the page in much the same way ancient oracles interpreted the entrails of oxen or smoke in the air. i.e., it's a kind of magical divination or fortune telling where 'like begets like'". Many studies have been conducted to assess its effectiveness to predict personality and job performance. Recent studies testing the validity of using handwriting for predicting personality traits and job performance have been consistently negative. Measures of job performance appear similarly unrelated to the handwriting metrics of graphologists. Professional graphologists using handwriting analysis were just as ineffective as lay people at predicting performance in a 1989 study. A broad literature screen by King and Koehler confirmed that dozens of studies showing the geometric aspects of graphology (slant, slope, etc.) are essentially worthless as predictors of job performance.Additional specific objections
* The Barnum effect (the tendency to interpret vague statements as specifically meaningful) and the Dr. Fox effect (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). Non-individualized graphological reports give credence to this criticism. * Effect Size: Dean's (1992) primary argument against the use of graphology is that theSystems
Integrative graphology focuses on the strokes and their purported relation to personality. Graphoanalysis was the most influential system in the United States between 1929 and 2000. Holistic graphology is based on form, movement, and use of space. It uses psychograms to analyze handwriting. Four academic institutions offer an accredited degree in handwriting analysis: * The University of Urbino, Italy: MA (Graphology) * Instituto Superior Emerson, Buenos Aires, Argentina: BA (Graphology) * Centro de Estudios Superiores (CES), Buenos Aires, Argentina: BA (Graphology) *Vocabulary
Every system of handwriting analysis has its own vocabulary. Even though two or more systems may share the same words, the meanings of those words may be different. The technical meaning of a word used by a handwriting analyst, and the common meaning is not congruent. Resentment, for example, in common usage, means annoyance. In graphoanalysis, the term indicates a fear of imposition.Legal considerations
Hungary
A report by the Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information says that handwriting analysis without informed consent is a privacy violation.United States
Employment law
A 2001 advisory opinion letter from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission responded to a question regarding "whether it is legal to use an analysis of an applicant's handwriting as an employment screening tool. You also ask whether it is legal to ask the applicant's age and use of medications to allow for variants in his/her handwriting." The letter advised that in this circumstance, it was illegal under theApplications
Gender and handwriting
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. However, most of these samples, as well as subsequent studies, are based on small sample sizes that are collected non-randomly. A much larger and more recent survey of over 3,000 participants only found a classification accuracy of 54%. As statistical discrimination below 0.7 is generally considered unacceptable, this indicates that most results are rather inaccurate, and that variation in results observed is likely due to sampling technique and bias. The reason for this bias varies; hypotheses are that biology contributes due to average differences in fine motor skills among males and females, and that differences arise from culture and gender bias.Employment profiling
A company takes a writing sample provided by an applicant, and does a personality profile, supposedly matching the congruence of the applicant with the ideal psychological profile of employees in the position. The applicant can also malpractice in this system; they may ask someone to write on their behalf. A graphological report is meant to be used in conjunction with other tools, such as comprehensive background checks, practical demonstration or record of work skills. Graphology supporters state that it can complement but not replace traditional hiring tools. Research in employment suitability has ranged from complete failure to guarded success. The most substantial reason for not using handwriting analysis in the employment process is the absence of evidence of a direct link between handwriting analysis and various measures of job performance. The use of graphology in the hiring process has been criticized on ethical and legal grounds in the United States.Psychological analysis
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 individualMarital compatibility
In its simplest form only sexual expression and sexual response are examined. At its most complex, every aspect of an individual is examined for how it affects the other individual(s) within the relationship. The theory is that after knowing and understanding how each individual in the relationship differs from every other individual in the relationship, the resulting marriage will be more enduring. With a comparative analysis receiving and non-receiving parts responses are measured.Medical diagnosis
Medical graphology is probably the most controversial branch of handwriting analysis. Strictly speaking, such research is not graphology as described throughout this article but an examination of factors pertaining toGraphotherapy
''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." It originated in France during the 1930s, spreading to the United States in the late 1950s. The purported therapy consists of a series of exercises similar to those taught in basicSee also
* Literomancy *Graphologists
*Related fields
*References
Further reading
* *External links