Friday, August 2, 2019

Post 8: Graphology

Even despite the lack of empirical evidence of graphology being effective, I am still skeptical. We saw in these videos that confirmation bias again had a strong influence on the study subjects' responses. Everyone liked to be told good things about themselves, and could fill in the gaps as to what the analyst meant. However, after hearing their true analysis, many were hit or miss.

I would think that there are too many factors that affect someone's handwriting to accurately analyze it. Level of education, medical conditions, handiness, mood, time spent writing, and purpose for writing all would change how a person writes. For example, someone writing a letter while deployed in a combat zone would likely be stressed and have a tighter grip on his or her pen. This might reveal that the writer is stressed, but doesn't actually reveal anything about the personality. Handiness would affect which way the letters slope, and to what extent. If the person is fatigued, like after writing fifty thank-you cards after a wedding, the handwriting would likely change from the first letter to the last. My hypothesis is that if anything can be predicted from handwriting, it is mood rather than personality traits.

1 comment:

  1. I feel as though analyzing handwriting is morally wrong, and it is sad that some businesses hold perfect penmanship as their highest quality standard for hiring purposes. My brother is a math wiz, and his handwriting is not legible. There is also the assumption that doctors have bad handwriting. The reality is that good penmanship should be practiced and yes, resumes should be as legible as possible. However, it is a stretch to believe one can assume personality traits solely off the way a person crosses their T's or the spacing between their writing. Erik, I do believe you brought up an interesting point that the way a person feels at a particular moment in time may affect factors such as sizing and slant.

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