The Psychological Meaning of the Single Characteristics in Handwriting - A Historical Article on the Analysis and Interpretation of Handwriting

By H. J. Jacoby

This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative publications on the subject of graphology. The titles in this range include "Graphology and Character" "Graphology and Health" "Graphology and Children" and many more. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, "The Psychological Meaning of the Single Characteristics in Handwriting" contains information on the analysis and interpretation of handwriting. It is intended to illustrate aspects of graphology and serves as a guide for anyone wishing to obtain a general knowledge of the subject and understand the field in its historical context. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kiefer Press
• Release date: May 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9781528799676

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THE EXTRAVERTED AND SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE ACT OF WRITING: THE DEGREE OF LEGIBILITY

WHAT does the term handwriting mean? Howard C. Warren’s Dictionary of Psychology defines Handwriting and Writing in the following manner:

Handwriting: symbolic tracings or marks, made on paper or other material by the human hand or its equivalent, as a record of thought or as a means of communication (loosely used for script, a more general term; both terms exclude chiselling and artistic representations; but script would include foot-writing and mouth-writing. A more inclusive and exact term is: graphic language).

Writing: the act of recording ideas in symbolic form, especially by tracing letters and words on paper, etc., in more or less permanent form with a pen or other recording device.

It is important to note that in these comprehensive definitions artistic representations are excluded, that foot-writing or mouth-writing may, however, be included, and that one of the essential characteristics of handwriting consists in its being a record of thought or a means of communication.

Handwriting in fact is fundamentally a means of communication. From the first attempts—as far as they are known to us—leading up to the invention of handwriting, its purpose has remained the same through the ages: to be a record of events, ideas, etc., which to the writer appear important enough to be communicated to others. Whatever a letter, a manuscript, or the like, may contain or represent, writing always is a means of establishing contacts with others. Besides, and next to, speaking it is the most important means of extraversion which the human mind invented in order to establish understanding and relationship with others, the outside world.

From the fact that writing is an act of extraversion we can deduce that the special way in which a person performs this act is altogether characteristic of his extraverted attitude, of his attitude towards the outside world.

There is one simple and general characteristic in handwriting which is elucidating in this respect: the degree of legibility.

It is important to keep in mind that legible and decipherable are not synonymous, for the ability and skill to decipher handwritings differ individually, and sometimes very greatly. A person who is good at deciphering handwritings may well be able to make out the meaning of a document which will defeat the efforts of others. Legible we call writing in which every word, even if taken out of its context, is clear, that is to say unmistakably clear, very legible if every single letter is unmistakably clear.

If handwriting is a means of understanding one another, its very purpose demands a certain degree of legibility, of intelligibility, for to answer its purpose every handwriting ought to be legible and easily assimilated. But this demand is by no means fulfilled in reality: every day we come across handwritings of all degrees of legibility. Some people write legibly to such an extent that, in order to understand their meaning correctly, we need not decipher any single letter of their handwriting or even read carefully because the legibility of their writing yields to our understanding and eases it. Other people write illegibly, not occasionally, but always, to such a degree that the deciphering of their writing causes much trouble to the addressee and sometimes uncertain guessing becomes necessary to unravel its possible meaning.

Legibility serves the purpose of unimpeded communication with our fellow-beings and of making oneself understood, a purpose that is definitely impaired by illegibility. Legibility, therefore, is aiming at clearness of expression in a sense of wanting to be understood. This is positively indicative of the clear, sincere, and transparent character of a person who does not think it necessary to conceal certain traits to himself or others, to twist, to distort, or to veil facts. It will be found in people who are without falsehood, whose utterances are as unambiguous and clear as their character is transparent. They try, and are able, to adjust themselves to the surrounding world, and are, therefore, capable of adapting themselves just as their handwriting is adapted to the prescribed forms.

Sometimes, however, legibility is nothing but a cloak which is used to produce the definite appearance of clarity and sincerity. In this group we find first of all the paranoic person, and also the swindler and deceiver, the wolf in sheep’s clothing who tries to hide his real nature behind conventional smooth and expressionless forms.

To be sure which of the two possible interpretations is correct—sincerity or deceptive smoothness—depends upon the constellation of the other features appearing in the handwriting.

By quite a simple deduction we are led to another important possibility of interpretation: clarity, unambiguity, and transparency are not only a sign of a sincere and unambiguous character, but also of people who are without strong impulses, who do their duty automatically and according to pattern, adapting themselves easily because they feel no urge to individual and personal expression in form. They have no need to suppress a powerful personality which refuses to behave according to established standards, because they are not endowed with one. Thus the negative side of legibility indicates inner barrenness, lack of originality, and a conventional outlook.

If legibility is combined with a clear arrangement of the distances between the words and lines, we may see in this the combination of the desire to make oneself understood, with the ability for clear and lucid expression. Therefore, the handwriting of good speakers and good stylists and efficient people in the spheres of practical life almost invariably shows a good degree of legibility.

Illegibility defeats the actual purpose of writing, which is to establish contact with the surrounding world and to make oneself understood. We must, however, find out whether the handwriting is illegible because the writer does not care to be understood or whether he is impelled by the conscious or unconscious intention to remain impenetrable. In the first case the forms are original, according to the degree of originality of the writer. The producers of such handwritings which are hard to read are people who do not compromise with the world at the cost of their originality, who are not interested in popularity, who are not in agreement with or even hostile to the demands of the day. They are neither inclined to adapt themselves to their surroundings, nor do they desire to be easily understood by everybody. Very often this reserved attitude, which sometimes leads to a complete withdrawal into the person’s world of ideas, is caused and fostered by an unsympathetic and therefore unfavourable surrounding world. Consequently such people become estranged to the world, unpractical in matters of everyday life, and obstinate.

Corresponding to the legibility in connection with good arrangement, which is characteristic of the eminent writer and eminent speaker, illegibility suggests an inelegant, heavy style which may be varied but difficult to understand. Such a person would do nothing to make it easier for the surrounding world to understand his original personality and to interpret his ideas, but simply try to remain true to himself.

An entirely different matter it is if the illegibility is—consciously or unconsciously—intentional. The writing is blurred in order to make it impossible for the reader to find him out. The forms of the letters become indistinct, letters are confused, and unimportant traits are exaggerated. If this is combined with a loose and threadlike connection it means that the writer is resolved not to reveal his actual self clearly, unequivocally, and definitely—an attitude we shall study in connection with neglected handwriting. Various reasons may account for that. It may, for instance, reveal cunning, the urge to hush up things, and to veil facts. Criminals, especially many international crooks and defrauders, show very illegible and at the same time slow handwritings, which are often smeary and made indistinct by subsequent corrections.

Indistinct letter formations are also found in the handwritings of neurotic people, expressive of their desire to deceive themselves and to conceal their weaknesses from the world. The specific feature of illegibility in cases of neurotic self-deception is produced by a change of the forms (confusing of letters, exaggeration of unimportant and neglect of important form-elements), whereas, in contrast to this, indistinctness caused by the entanglement of lines and bad spacing primarily indicates the inability of the writer to perceive things in their connectedness, which, however, very often leads to neurotic self-deception. The same desire of self-deception can be observed in the handwriting of psychopathic persons who increase its illegibility by covering already written passages with new syllables or words. Moreover, increasing illegibility of an ordinarily clear handwriting is an indication of pathological disturbances—in the event of progressive paralysis, for instance, the writing becomes blurred, smeary, and ataxic—but the diagnosis of such cases should be left to the physician.

Furthermore, it is important to observe which of the elements of handwriting are chiefly affected by the illegibility, whether the form of connection, difference of length (upper length and lower length respectively), pastiness, and, above all, smears, play an important part. Nor should the graphologist omit to study the relationship between legibility and the rhythm of a handwriting.

It also goes without saying that the value of legibility is diminished if it is produced at the expense of speed. It is one social demand that the product of writing should be intelligible: it is another that the time necessary to produce a legible communication should not exceed a reasonable margin. If a high degree of legibility entails extreme slowness, time is wasted, which means: the writer is not prepared to respond to the various demands of outside reality in a natural, quick, and versatile way.

In all cases of illegibility we have, of course, to make sure whether physiological or technical reasons account for it before we consider its psychological significance. I have pointed out these factors in the chapter Objections and Limitations, but as I am dealing in this part of the book exclusively with the psychological significance of the features I want once more to stress these factors which, of course, apply to all features.

Fig. 34 shows a legible handwriting which displays that the writer is anxious to adapt herself to her surroundings and to circumstances. She is not ambitious to have a particular personality or to arrive at an important position in life. She has not developed any particular traits of originality but traits of social value such as a certain amount of understanding for other people of her class, a willingness to fall in with others, contentment with a subordinate kind of work, and a good deal of genuine sympathy for others.

The same applies to Fig. 74. The considerable degree of legibility indicates a reliable, unostentatious, and upright person. According to the legibility of his writing, he strives to be clear and penetrable in his activities and in his personality.

The handwriting in Fig. 75 has forms of its own, but is at the same time fairly legible. It tells us that the writer is able to combine clarity with originality in her activities. A quickly and smoothly flowing handwriting which is as legible and at the same time as original as this, is usually produced by persons well adapted to the conditions of their work, to social life, and to circumstances. It is significant that in a similar manner the style of such persons displays a high degree of clarity, intelligibility, and effectiveness.

Another fairly legible handwriting is presented in Fig. 76. At this