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Some Limits of Graphology

by: Ruth Gardner

Before beginning the study of graphology , every student should be aware of some of the things graphology cannot tell the analyst about the writer. First and foremost, it cannot foretell the future. Many people equate graphology with some kind of extrasensory perception or clairvoyance. It is neither of these. As mentioned before, graphology is a scientific study. A graphologist may predict a writer’s reaction to various situations, but this is not predicting the future. Should a graphologist accurately do predictions, she is using another skill, art or practice to do so, but not graphology.

Something that is usually not even attempted by the analyst is determining the exact age of the writer. One can often perceive the very old and the very young, but at times even this is difficult. Levels of maturity may be exposed by the writer but that often has nothing to do with chronological age.

Gender of the writer is another fact that an analyst must guess at rather than be able to discern. Certain traits are often assigned by our social values as belonging to the male or female. But with the recent societal trends toward changing these values, and the acceptance within the profession of the individuality of each writer, this kind of evaluation is often invalidated by graphologists. Thus a thorough analyst will require knowledge of age and sex before beginning an analysis.