The Greek words graphein-, meaning 'to write,' and -ology meaning 'the study of' come together to form the modern-day term, graphology (Victor 3). The definition of graphology simply stated, the study of handwriting, tells one very little about the true meaning of graphology. Graphology: the science of estimating character by studying the handwriting. This definition delivers a much more precise and clear picture of what is involved with graphology. This paper will explore the history of graphology, and, more importantly, its needful inclusion to the battery of currently used psychodiagnostic tests.

Handwriting analysis, although considered to be a contemporary idea, has a lengthy history, dating as far back as the third century B.C., when Aristotle wrote, "Just as all men do not have the same speech sounds, neither do they all have the same writing." Fourteen hundred years later, in the eleventh century, the Chinese philosopher Kuo Jo-hsu wrote, "Handwriting infallibility can show whether it comes from a person who is noble-minded or one who is vulgar." In Italy, at the beginning of the seventeenth cent

"Finally, whether we get additional German translations or not; and whether universities do or do not regularize graphology in the graduate projective-psychology curriculums; it is my conviction that we shall one day view graphology as an integral part of out psychodiagnostic batteries. For, just as psychoanalysis and the Rorschach protocol have broken the barriers of professional conservatism, so eventually will graphology earn its place as a unique method of assessing man's conscious and unconscious expressive behavior" (Anthony 77).

Another reason for graphology to be considered a valid tool for psychoanalysis is that all human factors can be eliminated from the evaluation. Writing scales that judge pressure, speed, curvature, and even special microscopes that study line thicknesses have been devised and are available for use in the graphologist's laboratory (Victor 10). "All science, regardless of its subject matter, has developed on an original basis of systemization of everyday empiric knowledge. The graphological method makes no exception to this rule" (Sonnemann 11).

ury, Alderisius Prosper composed the first systematic written study of handwriting analysis entitled Ideographia. Although the book did not receive the widespread recognition that it hoped for, it did not go unnoticed. Eighteenth century writings appear from Lavatar and Grohman, both continuing the research earlier explored by Prosper and his predecessors. Many artisans in various fields began to show an interest in the correlation between a man's written words and his character traits. Many authors and poets, including Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Mann, and Alexander Dumas, intrigued by the connection refer to graphology in their publicized works (Sara 13-15).

There are six main objections to handwriting analysis. Objection number one: handwriting is not connected to the personality of the writer; rather it depends only upon the muscle contractions of the hand. The experiment with the paraplegic writers using their mouths to produce identical handwriting to their previously used hands disproves this statement. Objection number two: the writing materials are more indicative for handwriting than the character and the momentary mood of the writer. Taking into account the quality of the paper, the nature of the pen and the manner in which the pen is held, the angle in which the pen is held to the paper...etc., there is something more fundamental t

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Approximate Word count = 1658
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)