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You are how you write

Does handwriting analysis offer accurate insights into personality? Ode went to a graphologist to find out.

Graphologists may vary in their interpretation of the shapes, regularity and consistency in handwriting. Some study specific curlicues and strokes, to which they assign character traits. If the horizontal bars on your lower case T’s slope upward, for example, you’re said to be more ambitious; if they slope downward, you’re not exactly a high-flier. If the bars are placed above the stem of the T, you’re aiming much too high. “Nonsense,” De Monchy says of this approach, commonly taught in the U.S. “It’s all about the context. I look at the whole.” She insists the lack of consensus by graphologists on what a handwriting sample indicates can be attributed solely to the difference between good graphologists and bad graphologists. “The good ones come to the same analysis,” she says. “We show that every year at our international meetings, where for any handwritten sample, practitioners from different cultures come to the same conclusions.”

She adds that there are zones in handwriting. The upper zone, made up of the upward strokes of lowercase letters like “b,” “d” and “h”, say something about the writer’s intellectual interest. The lower zone—the downward loops and strokes of letters like “g,” “j” and “p”—are an indication of physical energy. The middle area is the ego: few loops upward or downward can indicate the writer is strongly focused on him or herself. The same applies to large handwriting, though De Monchy points out that older people’s writing is often larger because they don’t see as well, while the handwriting of adolescents is typically bigger during a growth spurt because they’re trying to find their voices. This needs to be considered when analyzing the handwriting of adolescents and the elderly.

These meanings became attached to certain shapes through a mixture of experience, intuition and symbolism, explains De Monchy. “A right slant could mean you’re open to others. After all, if you greet someone, you shake hands with them or you bow, both of which are forward movements. A left slant, on the other hand, might mean you isolate yourself from others. And everything in between could mean you’re reserved. The writing is a symbolic reflection of how the body moves.” Also important are things like how close together the letters are placed (more space might mean the writer leaves room for intuition) or the pressure (more pressure could mean more intense emotions, higher energy or a higher level of stress).

De Monchy can produce a short analysis of a writing sample, or, more accurately, a personality, in two or three hours. The next day, her verdict on my writing sample arrives by email. I’m amazed to read what my handwriting reveals. I have no appreciable leadership qualities. I’m not over-ambitious or likely to pound my fist on the table. I have difficulty saying “no” and often let people walk all over me. I exhibit a lack of method and structure and am not brilliant with time management. I’m nonchalant. I’m in danger of exhibiting a lack of commitment and “depth, despite the level of intelligence.” Yikes! There go my intellectual aspirations.

Thankfully, I have a few strong points. My handwriting exhibits flexible thinking marked by unexpected bright and creative ideas, an ability to handle stress and a practical approach. I am, the report says, “enviably easygoing.” My partner says the description fits, but feels it’s a little too harmonious; in reality, I’m more antagonistic than De Monchy’s analysis indicates. (Later, when I ask De Monchy whether she can see in someone’s handwriting whether they’re spiritually enlightened, she hesitates. “You can say whether a personality is harmoniously developed and integrated. In that case you’ll see writing that isn’t too big, is well-developed, nicely arranged and balanced with a good rhythm.”)

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