Journals Information

Universal Journal of Psychology Vol. 1(4), pp. 163 - 168
DOI: 10.13189/ujp.2013.010403
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Graphology in Psychological Assessment: A Diagnosis in Writing


Pierre E Cronje 1, Hester E Roets 2,*
1 Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice, Pretoria, SA
2 University of South Africa, Pretoria, SA

ABSTRACT

Many clinicians, even those without graphological knowledge, are fascinated by the uniqueness of handwriting. No wonder, since the development of one’s handwriting is the result of a unique, complex developmental process. Fascination in handwriting led to the intriguing study of graphology as a means of understanding human behaviour. There are different schools of graphology, one being the ‘trait school’ which interprets handwriting according to single signs and the other being the holistic approach, which advocates the analysis of handwriting as a Gestalt. The trait-method does not do justice to the multi-faceted nature of personality, but the holistic approach seems to be a powerful expressive projective technique. The reliability of the holistic method was put to the test by comparing clinical findings of a patient to a ‘blind’ handwriting analysis of the same patient done independently by a professional graphologist. Graphological inferences made from the five (5) unique composite profiles, show strong similarities with diagnoses on Axis I and Axis II (DSM-IV-TRTM) (APA 2000) of the same patients, which confirms the value of graphology in psychological assessment.

KEYWORDS
Graphology, Handwriting Analysis, Gestalt Approach, Holistic Analysis, Form Standard

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Pierre E Cronje , Hester E Roets , "Graphology in Psychological Assessment: A Diagnosis in Writing," Universal Journal of Psychology, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 163 - 168, 2013. DOI: 10.13189/ujp.2013.010403.

(b). APA Format:
Pierre E Cronje , Hester E Roets (2013). Graphology in Psychological Assessment: A Diagnosis in Writing. Universal Journal of Psychology, 1(4), 163 - 168. DOI: 10.13189/ujp.2013.010403.