Intelligence in handwriting - Is it really visible?
Author: DE MONCHY, Maresi
Editor: HERBERT, Lorraine

Intelligence is a complex and comprehensive concept interpreted according to individual ideas, sometimes with a personal view predominating. There are several universally accepted definitions with different interpretations. We often speak of a ‘clever mind’ or even a ‘brilliant mind’ indicating degrees of intelligence. This ’clever mind’ indicates the ability to quickly understand complicated matters or discern and acutely assess situations and problems. It can also mean having the ability to adapt and be flexible in new situations and to be able to communicate thoughts and ideas well.

Scientists have since long tried to investigate and explain what intelligence is and if possible measure it. The most generally accepted measure has been that of the IQ, the Intelligence Quotient by which the intellect of a person is measured and categorized at different levels and expressed as a number (e.g. using the Stanford-Binet IQ test).

There are other, more modern approaches such as the Theory of Multiple Intelligence (Gardner) where intelligence is categorised into verbal, logic-mathematical, spatial, musical, physical-kinesthetic and personal. There is also the well-known ‘Emotional Intelligence’ concept developed by Goleman, where not only the intellect but also other important personality traits, such as empathy and the ability to communicate effectively, are taken into account.

Graphologists have tried with varying degrees of success to determine the degree of intelligence with graphological signs shown in handwriting. Experts who have tackled this problem are, among others, Becker, Haldimann, Paul-Mengelberg, Pokorny, Pulver, Wallner and Wittlich.

Many graphologists feel able to define the level of intelligence or IQ, based on an analysis of handwriting, with ‘absolute certainty’. Others can see, with a considerable degree of certainty, Emotional or Multiple Intelligence through a study of handwriting. Both categories support their findings through recorded proof.

Neverthless, the present article questions the degree of certainty of this proof, based on the author’s study on the theme, but with a question mark added. The ‘certainty’ may be demonstrated by the handwriting specimens with or without a question mark.

The system of handwriting analysis suggested by Robert Heiss (1903-1974), a German psychology and philosophy Professor and prominent graphologist from the Freiburg/Br. University, is described in detail, accompanied by handwriting examples. In spite of its academic origin and widespread use in the German speaking countries, it has remained inaccessible to other cultures, due to the language-barrier. It is based on initial recognition, description and evaluation of three global “Handwriting Pictures”, as the starting point for structured analytic work and correct evaluation of the isolated graphic indicators, in light of the Gestalt.

Heiss differentiated three global processes intermingling while writing: the motoric, bringing about the Picure of Movement, the organizational – creating the Picture of Space, and the design of letter shapes, depicted in the Picture of Form. Each of these handwriting perspectives, viewed as Gestalts, shows a different developmental pattern throughout the lifespan, and relates to different, well-defined, personality aspects. Movement reflects temperament, the inner drives, emotions and moods. Space relates to the adjustment to one’s environment and the creation of a personal space within it, based also on organizational skills. The formal elements show awareness of one’s culture and ideals, cognitive processing of information and the overt style of behavior.

The first step would be to determine the hierarchical relationships between the three pictures, showing the patterns of dominance in the different spheres. Further, Heiss devised instructions to determine whether each of these Pictures remains conventional, as taught by the copybook, or has developed beyond it to show creativity and individuality in the relevant sphere. Moreover, possible disturbances in any of the pictures can also be identified and their scope and influence assessed. Thus immediate understanding of the overall personality structure, relative accentuations, strengths, weaknesses and specific disturbances is achieved.

The method therefore supplies a basic working tool, facilitating the first approach to determining the manner in which writer’s personality is organized. The information gathered by this differential, yet holistic analysis creates a framework to which further enriching building blocks may be added by a methodical interpretation of the single indicators, considering their relative strength and value in the whole personality.

The last three hundred years have seen a continuous process of learning to understand the writing movement by people from many disciplines who were receptive to the dynamics of its expression, and were fascinated by it. In spite of our vast current understanding, graphology sometimes witnesses mistaken evaluations, made not only by “charlatans” with insufficient or distorted knowledge, but sometimes even by superb, very well trained professional graphologists.

The internal and external demand for scientific validation of graphology may be confronted with difficulties, as only a part of the expressive writing movement can actually be seen, and the visible part of the movement might not even be the most authentic one. “Invisible writing” is made up of all the movements performed in the air during the writing process, that do not leave their marks on the writing surface. It consists of the immaterial lines air-bridging between single letters and whole bodies of words, that are physically manifested on the page.

Today, with the possibility of writing on an electronic writing tablet, originally developed for computer-aided design (CAD), a breakthrough could be achieved, as this invisible part of the writing, or at least its projection on the writing surface, could be recorded and analyzed. In contrast to the visible elements of handwriting, the normally invisible movements are not governed by any formal “guiding image” (Leitbild) and are not oriented toward legibility. Their nature may therefore vastly deviate from the visible writing picture.

Seventy psychology students from the Leipzig University wrote a similar sentence on paper and on an electronic tablet, recording ten handwriting parameters of writing pressure and speed. Five distinct qualitative groups were found, and all 70 handwriting samples could be coherently assigned to these groups and showed high consistency among various samples written on the writing tablet by the same subject.

The findings of this study were also graphologically interpreted, and three examples from each group are discussed. It could be shown that, for example, conventional copybook scripts may sometimes have inflated or highly ornate air-strokes. These reflect a totally different and unexpected inner personality dynamic, functioning latently behind the overt behavior. Similarly, samples with a modest appearance may, at times, reveal eruptive, high-emergent forms in the air-strokes, signalling pronounced, but hidden ambitions.

This modern technique has opened further research horizons and has exposed a surprising new level of graphological understanding.

The Bent Stroke (Directional Pressure) is a "caved-in" severely curved stroke where copybook dictates a straight stroke. It can appear in all three zones, directed from the left or right, top or bottom, and also from more than one direction in a single letter. The article describes the Bent Stroke and its four most common types, from the Left, Right, Above and Below. It further discusses the emotions associated with these variations of the Bent Stroke and assigns meaning to them.

Directional Pressure indicates a traumatic experience influencing the writer's behavior, often accompanied by fear or guilt as an important motivation. The direction of the stroke and the zonal location gives additional meaning and offers many possibilities, but the exact cause of the writer's trauma is rarely known. Directional Pressure from the Left most often signifies fear of unresolved past traumatic experiences. When it occurs from the Right, the fear is of the uncertainties of the future. Directional Pressure from Above denotes fear resulting from feelings of inferiority, and from Below - fear or guilt associated with the body, sexuality, or materialism.

Handwriting specimens illustrate the various possibilities.

In this original study, the main objective is to use the Star-Wave-Test (SWT), which was designed predominantly on the premises and assumptions of a more individualistic/ autonomous culture, in the collective/communitarian culture of Iran, in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of it as a measure that might have developmental, clinical and cultural applications.

In line with this objective, findings from Germany and Iran were compared to see whether there are universal developmental trends as well as cultural-specifics that can be assessed by the SWT in Iran. The total sample was comprised of 532 boys (49.1%) and 551 girls (50.9%) from five levels of elementary school in Tehran.

Results indicated a number of developmental trends in the two cultures. Also it became apparent that the SWT, as an expression (personality) test is sensitive to cultural characteristics: the meaning of self, ways of thinking, feeling and behaving, relations to other people, to objects and to the world are embedded in the context (Anderson, 1987; Bruner, 1990; Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1994, 1995; Kitayama and Markus, 2000).

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican Surrealist painter who experienced intensive and significant physical and emotional traumas. Samples of Kahlo’s Handwriting and the Anthony/Roman Psychogram obtained from them were evaluated.

Her graphic imprint gives tangible evidence to her fortitude and endurance. Her handwriting gives evidence both of her intellectual curiosity and also of her self-involvement and preoccupation. In stark contrast to her painting, it reveals none of her chronic disabilities. In fact, the dynamic and expressive quality of her script may just indicate a form of unjustified optimism.

Frida Kahlo’s creativity is a prime example of how to self-soothe, to work out the internal chaos in a productive and positive way. Her art represented her pain and disfigurement, as it was part of her. Her handwriting represented her personality, which was whole, and was distanced from her art. Only in the combination of her art and her handwriting can a multifaceted portrait of this artist be rendered.