Graphology Basics: What does your handwriting say about you?
The handwriting is something which comes from the subconscious mind of a person, and the information thus derived is real and true. Empirically through various samples, handwriting has been absolutely indicative of the personality of a person. A person’s handwriting speaks a lot about his/her behavior, personality, and thinking. In this article, we are going to study Graphology basics and gain a deeper insight into the analysis of handwriting.
Graphology and handwriting
The study of handwriting is referred to as Graphology, and the experts in this are referred to as Graphologists. Graphology basics analyze the physical characteristics of the signature or handwriting of a person and help in determining their character or personality and the state of the mind of the person while writing. Handwritten notes can help in tracking your gratitude lists and daily to-dos. Whether you are an introvert or outgoing will be determined by how small or big you write. The space you put between words also determines whether you are someone who enjoys freedom or someone who likes others’ company. Further heavy pen pressure suggests anger and high intensity, whereas soft pressure indicates that you are flexible. The way you cross your “t’s” or dot your i’s reveals different, unique and many types of personality traits.
The anatomy of handwriting
Various studies carried out on children and adults show that the mastery of handwriting is on the basis of involving a network of structures of the brain whose interconnection and involvement are specific to writing. At the time of joint learning of reading and writing, alphabetic characters are built and dependent on the writer’s expertise level. Part of the graphomotor network is involved during visual reading and letter identification. When you write with any part of the body indicates a common program but writing with the dominant hand is especially skilled. Brain regions get activated with the task of dominant-hand writing. The dominant handwriting significantly differs from the rest of the tasks. A stronger activation is observed in the right cerebellum, intraparietal sulcus, and left dorsal prefrontal cortex.
Related Read: Graphotherapy For Success: Change Your Handwriting To Live A Successful Life
The parts of letters
To study graphology, parts of letters have to be identified. When a writer makes a path in a single impulse, it is referred to as strokes. The strokes that go upwards forming letters are referred to as upward strokes, whereas the strokes that go downwards and come back up forming letters are known as downward strokes. Ovals are the middle or central area of writing. Eyes of letters d, q, o, g, a, etc., describes ovals. The full strokes of the superior area of letters t, l, j, h, f, d, and b up to the area in the middle area are upper extensions. The strokes that go downwards from the middle to lower end of z, y, q, p, j, g, and f are lower extensions. Without essential stroke, letters could not be identified.
Letters and their movements
First, when a child is given a chance to practice the formation of letters using the movements smoothly executed and not constrained by precision demands, then learning the motor plan of a letter occurs. When the motor plan is pretty well established, the child is capable of linking the strokes to form a letter smoothly without any visual guidance. Approaches to teaching handwriting using writing and tracing letters accurately between the lines shifts the strategy of the child to write letters away from pre-planned fluent actions with the use of visually guided movements for writing letters. Most of the approaches to teaching handwriting depend on tracing over printed letters that encourage the child to use continual visual movements’ monitoring. Fluently written and well-learned letters are produced with the help of rapid pre-planned movement, which does not require any visual monitoring.
Read More: Graphology: Everything You Want To Know
How to analyze handwriting?
To analyze handwriting, you have to check the slants of the writing. Slant speaks of the emotional expressiveness of a writer. More vertical slants mean a person is keeping his/her emotions in control, whereas a right slanted writer means that person is expressive. The size of the handwriting speaks a lot about the mindset, emotional state, and personality of a person. The overall size of the handwriting of someone represents the space the person wants to take. Normally small writing means concentration ability and focus. Signatures are more personal than other writings. If the signature size matches the normal writing size of a person, then the person has no pretense. If the sign is illegible, then the writer may be hiding something or is a private person.
Handwritings on unlined papers provide additional insights. While writing, the upward tilt on the unlined paper indicates an attitude of joy and optimism. Similarly, the drop in baseline indicates depression or sadness. Straight baselines indicate the steadiness of the person. The above analysis is time-consuming, but if you have a time constraint, you can try the study of just one letter, “t”. In a handwriting sample, the study of “t” determines motivation and energy levels. High and elongated t-crossbars mean lots of enthusiasm, high goals, and self-esteem.
Handwriting analysis chart
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Characheristics
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Few of the Handwriting Aspects representing the same
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Ambition
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Extensions into lower and upper zones
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Anger
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Pointed strokes, extreme heavy pressure
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Patience
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Exactly placed t bars and i dots
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Maturity
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simplified upper zones
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Sociability
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Right slant, garlands, connected scripts
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Progressiveness
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Ascending lines, high placed t crossbars
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Simple ways to study Graphology basics
Wish to study Graphology basics? We have mentioned some tricks and tips to see what your handwriting speaks about you. You have to start with good samples to start your analysis. You can start by writing a couple of lines in cursive handwriting on unlined paper. Since writings change with mood, it is better you write another sample a few hours later. While writing, some of us tend to use lighter strokes while others use harder pressure. This is viewed from the backside pressure marks and the boldness of the font. High pressure is a sign of high emotional energy. Light pressure means a sign of flexibility, and average pressure refers to a relatively balanced person.
While reviewing the cursive writing, do the letters tilt right or left or perfectly vertical? A left slant means the desire to hide emotions or the unwillingness of the writer to speak. A right slant, on the other hand, show that the writer is expressive. Moreover, upward writing in an unlined paper shows a happy mood and optimism, whereas; downward writing means sadness and discouragement which could be temporary of course. Wavy handwriting means the writer is uncertain, and unstable. Larger handwriting means a person is outgoing and extroverted, whereas smaller writing means the person is introverted or shy.
How to learn Graphology basics?
Graphology is a bit different from regular studies. It is a science where you can analyze handwriting sounding more interesting and fun. There are some valuable books available in the market that describe Graphology, but in the beginning, the books might be difficult to understand. As we look today, various institutions offer courses through which anyone can study the science of analyzing handwriting deeply. But the ultimate tool of learning is practicing what you have learnt from the Graphology Classes.
Related Read: How to learn Graphology and Graphotherapy?
She is a certified Graphologist since 2002 and is an expert in designing customized remedies to help her clients overcome various life issues like finance troubles, career growth, education, relationship problems, anxiety, guilt, fear and health issues like back pains, digestion/stomach related issues etc. She has done her M.Tech in IEOR from IIT Bombay. Her one-on-one guidance and customized solutions ensure that all her clients succeed and develop at a fast pace who come from all walks of life including entrepreneurs, students, business professionals, housewives, retirees, white-collar and blue-collar workers.