Contents
Binet’s study
Alfred Binet at one time made an attempt to compare the results of his own test with the data of graphologists. According to him, such a coincidence was established.
First, a group of subjects were presented with the tasks of the Binet test, and based on the results of the solution, a conclusion was made about the level of their mental abilities. Then another task was given. The subjects were asked to compose and write by hand any text, which was then analyzed by graphologists. The conclusion based on the results of the handwriting examination practically coincided with the results of the psychological test.
After many years, already today, the idea arose to objectively verify this impressive result. This time, the evaluators were not experts at all, but ordinary people who were asked to make a conclusion about the level of abilities of the author of a particular text. However, this time the texts obtained in Binet’s long-standing experiment were presented not in handwritten, but in printed form. To the surprise of the researchers, the scores turned out to be quite accurate, almost matching the scores on psychological tests. But the «judges» made their conclusions based on the only possible criterion — the content of the text. In all likelihood, graphologists, even without realizing it, took into account this criterion and relied not so much on the peculiarities of writing letters, but on the intellectual significance of what was written. Thus, faith in the possibility of a purely graphological examination was shaken.
General conclusion
Independent studies allow us to conclude that graphological personality assessments cannot be recognized as unconditionally reliable and objectively scientific. Although today graphology is widely practiced in some countries (for example, in France and Israel), science still does not have convincing evidence of a clear relationship between handwriting and personality.
Graphological methods have undeniable limitations. No specialist is able to determine with certainty the sex or age of the writer. It is difficult to determine such characteristics of intelligence as IQ by handwriting. The development of handwriting, like the development of a language, can be suspended by life circumstances.
The handwriting noticeably changes under the influence of changes in the state of mind, so experts can quite accurately determine the state in which this or that manuscript was made. However, it is unjustified to conclude that such a state is dominant in the mental life of a given person.