View source for Graphology

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific analysis of handwriting}}
{{for-multi|the forensic examination of handwritten documents|Graphanalysis|the study of writing systems|Graphemics|the study of mathematical graphs|Graph theory}}
{{Multiple issues|{{Excessive citations|date=March 2022}}
{{original research|date=January 2014}}}}
[[File:Talks on graphology, the art of knowing character through handwriting (1892) (14781407362).jpg|thumb|260x260px|A piece of handwriting used in graphological analysis, supposedly showing traits of "frivolity" and "triviality" in the writer]]

'''Graphology''' is the analysis of [[handwriting]] in an attempt to determine the writer's [[personality trait]]s. Its methods and conclusions are not supported 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 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>

Graphology has been controversial for more than a century. Although proponents point to positive testimonials as [[anecdotal evidence]] of its utility for personality evaluation, these claims have not been supported by scientific studies.<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 been rated as among the most discredited methods of psychological analysis by a survey of mental 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=|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word "graphology" derives from the Greek {{lang|el|γραφή}} ({{Transliteration|el|grapho-}}; 'writing'), and {{lang|el|[[wikt:λόγος|λόγος]]}} ({{Transliteration|el|[[logos]]}}; '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>

== History ==
In 1991, [[Jean-Charles Gille|Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani]] stated 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
  | last = Michon
  | first = Jean-Hippolyte
  | title = Le mystéres de l'écriture
  | place = Paris
  | year = 1872
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Michon
  | first = Jean-Hippolyte
  | title = Systéme de graphologie
  | place = Paris
  | year = 1875
  }}</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
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Traité pratique de graphologie, étude du caractère de l'homme d'après son écriture
  | place = Paris
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = L'écriture et le caractère
  | place = Paris
  | publisher = 1888
  }}</ref> that were soon published in other languages.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Handwriting and Expression
  | place = London
  | publisher = 1892
  | edition = First English Translation
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Praktisches Lehrbuch der Graphologie
  | place = Leipzig
  | publisher = List
  | year = 1906
  | edition = Fifth German
  }}</ref> 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 {{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 and the United States. In Germany during the 1920s, [[Ludwig Klages]] founded and published his findings 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
  | last = Klages
  | first = Ludwig
  | author-link = Ludwig Klages
  | title = Handschrift und Charakter
  | publisher = 1916
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Klages
  | first = Ludwig
  | author-link = Ludwig Klages
  | title = Handschrift und Charakter: gemeinverständlicher Abriss der graphologischen Technik
  | place = Barth
  | year = 1940
  | edition = 17th
  | page = 256
  }}</ref>

Thea Stein Lewinson and J. Zubin modified Klage's ideas, based upon their experience working for the U.S. government, publishing their method in 1942.<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = Lewinson
  | first1 = Thea Stein
  | last2 = Zubin
  | first2 = J
  | title = Handwriting analysis; a series of scales for evaluating the dynamic aspects of handwriting
  | place = New York
  | publisher = King's Crown Press
  | year = 1942
  | edition = 1st
  | pages = xiii, 147
  }}</ref>

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 accounts indicate that 10% of the members of International Graphoanalysis Society (IGAS) were expelled between 1970 and 1980.<ref>{{Citation| last = Chimera| first = Mary Ann| journal = Impact Magazine| issue = 5| postscript = .}}{{page needed|date=September 2020}}</ref>

Regarding a proposed correlation between biological sex and handwriting style, a paper published by James Hartley in 1989 concluded that there was some evidence in support of this hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartley |first1=James |title=Sex Differences in Handwriting: a comment on Spear |journal=British Educational Research Journal |date=January 1991 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=141–145 |doi=10.1080/0141192910170204 }}</ref>

Rowan Bayne, a British psychologist who has written several studies on graphology, summarized his view of the appeal of graphology: "[I]t's very seductive because at a very crude level someone who is neat and well behaved tends to have neat handwriting", adding that the practice is "useless... absolutely hopeless".<ref name="duff">{{cite news| last = Duffy| first = Jonathan| author2 = Giles Wilson| title = Writing wrongs| publisher = BBC News Magazine| date = 2005-02-01| url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4223445.stm| access-date = 2008-06-24| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120224120703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4223445.stm| archive-date = 2012-02-24| url-status = live}}</ref> The [[British Psychological Society]] ranks graphology alongside [[astrology]], giving them both "zero validity".<ref name="duff"/>

Graphology was also dismissed as a pseudoscience 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 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.</blockquote>

Dunning concludes:<ref name = Dunning/><blockquote>Other non-scientific 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>

== 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.<ref name=nevo1986>Nevo, B ''Scientific Aspects Of Graphology: A Handbook'' Springfield, IL: Thomas: 1986</ref><ref name="kingkoehler">{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=Roy N. |last2=Koehler |first2=Derek J. |title=Illusory correlations in graphological inference |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied |date=2000 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=336–348 |doi=10.1037/1076-898X.6.4.336 |pmid=11218342 |citeseerx=10.1.1.135.8305 }}</ref><ref>{{cite document |last1=Lockowandt |first1=Oskar |title=Present status of the investigation of handwriting psychology as a diagnostic method |publisher=American Psychological Association |year=1976 }}</ref> Today it is considered a pseudoscience.<ref name=nevo1986/><ref name='Graph_Beyer_PBS'>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3282_bbeyerstein.html |title=Barry Beyerstein Q&A |access-date=2008-02-22 |work=Ask the Scientists |publisher=[[Scientific American Frontiers]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220080111/https://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3282_bbeyerstein.html |archive-date=2007-02-20 }} "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'".</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="NYT1"/><ref name="Dunning"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Goodwin CJ |title=Research In Psychology: Methods and Design |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNsVUGTMcDoC&pg=PA36 |year=2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-52278-3 |page=36}}</ref> 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.<ref name="nevo1986"/><ref name ="kingkoehler"/>

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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neter |first1=Efrat |last2=Ben-Shakhar |first2=Gershon |title=The predictive validity of graphological inferences: A meta-analytic approach |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |date=January 1989 |volume=10 |issue=7 |pages=737–745 |doi=10.1016/0191-8869(89)90120-7 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="kingkoehler"/>

===Additional specific objections===
* 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.
* Effect Size: Dean's (1992)<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Dean
  | first = Geoffrey A.
  | title = The Bottom Line: Effect Size
  | journal = In Beyerstein & Beyerstein (1992)
  | pages = 269–341
  }}</ref><ref name ="beyerstein1992">{{Citation
  | last1 = Beyerstein
  | first1 = Barry L.
  | author-link = Barry Beyerstein
  | last2 = Beyerstein
  | first2 = Dale F.
  | title = The Write Stuff: Evaluation of Graphology - The Study of handwriting Analysis
  | place = Buffalo, NY
  | publisher = Prometheus Books
  | year = 1992
  | edition = 1st
  | url = https://archive.org/details/writestuffevalua00beye
  | isbn = 978-0-87975-612-3
  | url-access = registration
  }}</ref> primary argument against the use of graphology is that the [[effect size]] is too small. Regardless of the validity of handwriting analysis, the research results imply that it is not applicable for any specific individual, but may be applicable to a group.
* 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>

== Systems ==
{{independent sources|section|date=October 2014}}

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.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

[[Holism|Holistic]] graphology is based on form, movement, and use of space.<ref name="Sciences 360" /> It uses [[psychogram]]s 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>

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)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grafologiaemerson.com.ar/ |title=Instituto Superior Emerson |trans-title=Emerson Higher Institute |website=Grafología Emerson |year=2016 |language=es |access-date=2016-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112211211/http://www.grafologiaemerson.com.ar/ |archive-date=2016-11-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Centro de Estudios Superiores (CES), Buenos Aires, Argentina: BA (Graphology)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news-ces.com/ |title=Grafologia |trans-title=Graphology |year=2016 |website=Centro de Estudios Superiores |language=es |access-date=2016-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106155603/http://www.news-ces.com/ |archive-date=2016-11-06 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Autonomous University of Barcelona]], Barcelona, Spain: MA (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.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = IGAS Department of Instruction
  | author-link = International Graphoanalysis Society
  | title = The Encyclopedic Dictionary for Graphoanalysts
  | place = Chicago, IL
  | publisher = International Graphoanalysis Society
  | year = 1984
  | edition = 3rd
  }}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="nagymaros">{{cite journal  | first = Attila  | last = Péterfalvi  | title = Overview of the Data Protection Commissioner's investigation into the tender for the notary position of the city of Nagymaros  | publisher = Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information  | date = 16 March 2004  | url = http://abiweb.obh.hu/dpc/index.php?menu=reports/2004/III/4&dok=reports/2004/222&nyomtat=1  | access-date = 2008-06-21  | url-status = dead  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20100109171828/http://abiweb.obh.hu/dpc/index.php?menu=reports/2004/III/4&dok=reports/2004/222&nyomtat=1  | archive-date = 9 January 2010  }}</ref>

=== 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."<ref name=EEOC>{{citation|last=Johnston|first=Dianna B.|title=Title&nbsp;VII: Disparate Impact, Handwriting Analysis|publisher=U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|date=28 February 2001|url=https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/foia/letters/2001/titlevii_disparate_handwriting.html|access-date=4 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122024344/https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/foia/letters/2001/titlevii_disparate_handwriting.html|archive-date=22 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The letter advised that in this circumstance, it was illegal under the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]] (ADA) to ask a job applicant whether he or she is taking any medications, and also advised that asking an applicant for his or her age "allegedly to allow for variants in analyzing his/her handwriting" was not a ''per se'' violation of the [[Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967]] (ADEA), but could be significant evidence of age discrimination.<ref name=EEOC/> The letter also said that there was no judicial guidance on "whether a policy of excluding applicants based upon their handwriting has an adverse impact on a protected group" under the ADA, ADEA, or [[Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref name=EEOC/>

== Applications ==

=== 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.<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 non-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>

The reason for this bias varies; hypotheses are that biology contributes due to average differences in fine motor skills among males and females,<ref name="ReferenceB"/> and that differences arise from culture and gender bias.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/00224545.1996.9712254|title = Inferring Gender from Handwriting in Urdu and English|year = 1996|last1 = Hamid|first1 = Sarah|last2 = Loewenthal|first2 = Kate Miriam|journal = The Journal of Social Psychology|volume = 136|issue = 6|pages = 778–782|pmid = 9043207}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/0141192890150304|title=Differences between the Written Work of Boys and Girls|year=1989|last1=Spear|first1=Margaret Goddard|journal=British Educational Research Journal|volume=15|issue=3|pages=271–277}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/00224540209603929|title=Judging Gender from Samples of Adult Handwriting: Accuracy and Use of Cues|year=2002|last1=Burr|first1=Vivien|journal=The Journal of Social Psychology|volume=142|issue=6|pages=691–700|pmid=12450344|s2cid=39650656}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref name="BPSReport">{{cite web
 |title=The validity of graphology in personnel assessment (technical review PDF)
 |website=British Psychological Society
 |url=https://cms.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-07/validity_of_graphology_web.pdf
 |access-date=2025-09-22
}}</ref>

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<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
success.<ref>{{Citation|author=Luca, E. S.|title=Major Aptitudes and Personality Characteristics of 42 Dental Students as Evaluated Through Their Handwriting|journal=New York Journal of Dentistry|year=1973|volume=43|issue=9|pages=281–83|pmid=4518182}}</ref>  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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Steven L. |last2=Vaught |first2=Steve |title=The write stuff: What the evidence says about using handwriting analysis in hiring |journal=SAM Advanced Management Journal |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=31–35 |date=September 2001}}</ref>

The use of graphology in the hiring process has been criticized on ethical<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 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>

=== 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 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>

===Marital 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.<ref>Karohs, Erika (1994) SSS. Pebble Beach, CA</ref> 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.<ref>IGAS (1976) MGA. Chicago, IL: IGAS</ref>

=== Medical diagnosis ===
Medical graphology is probably the most controversial branch of handwriting analysis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ludewig |first1=Reinhard |last2=Dettweiler |first2=Christian |last3=Lewinson |first3=Thea Stein |title=Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Medizinischen Graphologie |trans-title=Possibilities and limits of medical graphology. Determination of current status and perspectives (I) |language=de |journal=Zeitschrift für die gesamte innere Medizin und ihre Grenzgebiete |date=December 1992 |volume=47 |issue=12 |pages=549–57 |pmid=1285461 }}</ref> Strictly speaking, such research is not graphology as described throughout this article but an examination of factors pertaining to [[motor control]]. Research studies have been conducted in which a detailed examination of handwriting factors, particularly timing, fluidity, and consistency of size, form, speed, and pressure are considered in the process of evaluating patients and their response to pharmacological therapeutic agents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knopp |first1=W |last2=Paulson |first2=G |last3=Allen |first3=JN |last4=Smeltzer |first4=D |last5=Brown |first5=FD |last6=Kose |first6=W |title=Parkinson's disease: L-dopa treatment and handwriting area |journal=Current Therapeutic Research, Clinical and Experimental |date=March 1970 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=115–25 |pmid=4985489 }}</ref> The study of these phenomena is a by-product of researchers investigating motor control processes and the interaction of nervous, anatomical, and biomechanical systems of the body.

''The Vanguard Code of Ethical Practice'', amongst others, prohibits medical diagnosis by those not licensed to do diagnosis in the state in which they practice.

=== Graphotherapy ===
{{More medical citations needed|section|date=October 2014}}
''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 similar to those taught in basic [[calligraphy]] courses, sometimes in conjunction with music or positive self-talk.

== See also ==
* [[Literomancy]]
* [[Numerology]]
* [[Physiognomy]]

=== Graphologists ===
* [[Max Pulver]]
* [[Robert Saudek]]
* [[Rafael Schermann]]
* [[Léopold Szondi]]
* [[Sheila Lowe]]

=== Related fields ===
* [[Asemic writing]]
* [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]
* [[Palaeography]]
* [[Graphonomics]]
* [[Doodle]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Bangerter A, König CJ, Blatti S, Salvisberg A |title=How Widespread is Graphology in Personnel Selection Practice? A case study of a job market myth |year=2009 |journal=International Journal of Selection and Assessment |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=219–30 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2389.2009.00464.x|s2cid=55481603 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/20992/files/Bangerter_Adrian_-_How_Widespread_is_Graphology_in_Personnel_Selection_20101122.pdf }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |editor=Shermer M |editor-link=Michael Shermer |author=Berger J |encyclopedia=The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA116 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-653-8 |pages=116–20 |title=Handwriting Analysis and Graphology}}

== External links ==
* [http://skepdic.com/graphol.html Skeptic's Dictionary entry on graphology]
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4223445.stm BBC article about graphology]
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/grapho.html How Graphology Fools People]

{{Psychology}}
{{Pseudoscience}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Graphology| ]]
[[Category:Biometrics]]
[[Category:Personality]]
[[Category:Writing]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]