Saturday, January 25, 2014

Handwriting Analysis

With handwriting analysis it is the writing, not the content, that is of interest. Dating back to the 17th century, handwriting has been used to psychoanalyze the writer of script. The first important analysis was done during the Italian Renaissance, followed by the 19th century German Gestalt theories. 

During the 19th century American elementary teachers were regular schooling in handwriting analysis to help them direct children into suitable professions. It was a requirement for professions in medicine, legal and business to have legible handwriting; the more elegant the higher one was expected to rise. It was believed that those of better ability and suited personality types would provide for a better society rather than allowing only those from families with the means to afford education to become leaders despite their deficits.

In depth analysis of particular people also revealed emotions. There are volumes on the writing styles of various leaders of the World War II era.

Era styles also lead revealing information about the mental and emotional state of society as a whole. The cursive style markedly changed to a rounded style in the late 20th century. It became common for groups of emotionally stunted adults to become teachers, accountants, directors, doctors and lawyers. The post-hippie mentality accepted primary/elementary educational style into the professional world.

New studies underway believe that the decline in society is documented in handwriting style as groups of non-cursive writing adults’ state that the skill is obsolete. While the cursive literate class find that cursive on paper is as good as encryption on a computer file.


Find out more about Handwriting analysis: www.pegasusnational.com/handwriting-analysis.php

4 comments:

loverofwords said...

I like writing in cursive and when writing creatively, I write in long-hand, then on the computer. I understand that if kids don't learn cursive writing, they cannot read it! So, they would not be able to read our founding documents among others, or their grandparent's writing.

Joanne said...

Alas, my left handed scrawl is abysmal and hints at the downfall of society. I admire the lovely cursive of days gone by. It is a lost art.

Kim Van Sickler said...

Interesting that it used to be a requirement for doctors to write legibly, because now they notoriously write illegibly. I hate it that the schools around here don't teach cursive and think it's obsolete. Sure we have computers, now, but people still put pen to paper. To not teach this skill is absolutely insane to me.

Kate OMara said...

I love the art of writing, having spent many hours with a copy book. At age 9, I would pretend I was marrying the pop star of the week and practice signing Mrs. So & So. Silly kid stuff that resulted in decent cursive script.