the British Institute of Graphologists

Graphology today: the relevance of graphology

”You are at your desk in the office, awaiting a telephone call.  The call comes through when you are momentarily away and a post-it note is taken by a colleague to tell you who has rung.

On your return you always notice who wrote you the note before you read it, by seeing the individual features of the writing…. ”  

You are already doing Graphology.

The beauty of graphology is that it doesn't matter how often or infrequently you write, how ugly or practised your handwriting, it will always have meaning to the eye of the trained graphologist in the context of personality and character evaluation.

The commercial usages of graphology:

  • All psychologists need to see the person being analysed. A graphologist can however study their writing to form an objective report, and this does not need the person to be present at all.
  • In recruitment psychometric testing provides stats in percentiles relating to aptitudes, but only graphology can uncover very intimate information about the writer to the prospective employer, which may be important in sensitive appointments.
  • Recruitment of personnel is always hampered by one major factor:  we all portray a persona or external image that is not exactly what we are, but what we want others to think we are. What comes through the door of a company for interview is the persona and not always the real person. Graphology uncovers the true nature of the person and not their image.
  • What company wants square pegs in round holes in their workforce? Graphology can be of great assistance here, avoiding a costly mis-match to the company.
  • Interviews tend to be very subjective and all candidates will seek to promote their strengths and play down their weaknesses. A professional graphological analysis can offer the interviewer with a full dossier about the applicant and how they function – including their potential and motivation - before they even arrive for interview.

These days we are drawn to digital methods of memory preservation - blogs and tweets and status updates - but handwritten diaries endure, especially in wartime. (Diaries were kept by American and British soldiers in Iraq, as well as by the Iraqis.)  Handwritten diaries do not need electricity or to be handled with care, and they carry a unique form of literary DNA.  Each stroke of the pen is a highly individualised signature that reveals the writer's emotional state.

Even with the advance of technology in today’s digital age, handwriting will continue to be an important skill that holds relevance in many different areas of daily life. Why are 200 million biros sold in this country if nobody is writing? They can't all be used for peashooters or biting on by stressed executives.

As we have outlined, it is cost effective for businesses, quality control in relationships, and revealing even to the self at different times of our lives.

At a more fundamental level, when people learn to write they are simultaneously building other developmental skills such as sequential memory and fine motor ability. Writing by hand creates pathways in the brain that cement the information into the mind, improving memory recall and problem solving.

This means that handwriting is an essential tool in building intellectual abilities, common sense, discipline and social awareness in children and adults. Consequently graphology will retain its place as an important subject.

Recent studies have shown that the process of handwriting imprints knowledge in the brain more effectively than using a keyboard and computer screen, and that handwriting activates the Broca’s area of the brain - the area linked to speech production. So manufacturers are continuing to introduce equipment that requires the ability to write by hand.

What is graphology?

The history of graphology

The B.I.G. Diploma course

Our Code of Ethics