January 08, 2014 - Handwriting says a lot about you, according to graphology guru Dave Littmann.
Graphology, the study of handwriting, is a practice that goes back to the times of great philosopher Aristotle, and is actually very popular today in European counties.
To analyze what graphologists call a sample, a person first writes about a half page about an early childhood memory on unlined paper.
To analyze samples, graphologists look at things like slant, form, movement, spacing, margins and the way a writers letters are composed.
Although the individual traits are taken into consideration separately, the complete analysis looks at the sample as a whole unit, said Littmann.
Characteristics shown in abundance in handwriting reveals personality traits.
"With handwriting analysis we look at what are a person's strength and weakness," he said.
When graphologist first obtain a handwriting sample they simply look at it to get a feel for it. They turn the paper around, upside down and all around to gather an overall impression, something Littmann said even those with no training can do.
"Anyone can look at a sample and get an impression of someone's handwriting," he said.
How and if you dot you I's and how you cross letters like T's means something too.
Margins on the unlined paper are extremely important. Margins to the left indicate the past and fall under a mother influence. Right margins are associated with a father influence. Someone with margins that start at the edge of a paper can indicate someone is stuck in the past.
Littmann said the more research is done on the importance of handwriting, the more important the area of research becomes.
"Handwriting is brain writing," said Littmann, adding that the youth is losing the art of handwriting.
Littmann said students today are losing a connection to handwriting. "Kids today are missing a lot," he said adding that MRI'S show that parts of the brain used to connect handwriting strokes are not lit up. "They will figure it out in about 20 years after research shows what types of deficits people have developed without using handwriting."
Littmann said the more that is discovered about handwriting, the more important researchers are discovering handwriting is.
"All handwriting is mental brain writing," he said.
Graphologists pay careful attention to traits that appear multiple times in writing, and need the trait to show up a certain number of times to render a decision on personality traits.
Handwriting can reveal both positive and negative traits. Handwriting from everyone from of seriously scary serial killers to free spirited artists have been analyzed.
Those artists types, their handwriting can be hysterical.
"Artists often have hysterical writing," said Littmann adding that creativity show's up in unique strokes.
Pressure placed by the writer with the pen while the subject is writing can reveal the emotional intensity of the writer.
Sometimes writers will have a variety of types of handwriting in a sample such as garland, arcade, angle and thread styles. A combination of more than one handwriting style shows very high intelligence," he said.
If you try to isolate or smother someone's larger writing, there will be problems.
"They need room to expand," said Littmann.
More and more companies are using handwriting analysis to screen applicants. For job screenings, employees that get their handwriting analyzed have to be made aware that the writing will be analyzed and must accept it as a condition of employment, he said.
Littmann said he performs handwriting analysis at many corporate parties and events.
Staff writer covering Independence Township and Clarkston area.