A threatening letter has come through the mail slot. What should be done? The language in the letter is forceful. Is the letter writer dangerous? Grace Bly, a graphoanalyst, has been called in to help private investigators with this type of situation.
Graphologists can't predict the behavior of letter writers, but they can give an insight into their general personality traits.
"We were able to tell that the letter writer was disgruntled and had a lot of beefs with the company. But the personality profile didn't show a threatening personality," says Bly.
The private investigator was able to use this information and the content of the letter to determine that the sender wasn't an immediate danger. "He was just interested in going back in time and pointing out his beefs."
How could Bly know anything about the letter writer's personality? Handwriting analysts examine the way a person forms each letter. They look at the stems on t's and d's, for example. If the stems are long, that might signal that the writer is vain.
Analysts look for many other clues. For example, do the letters slope to the left or the right? Are they loosely or tightly joined? What about the vowels? Are they round and curving or tight, and are they closed at the top?
By examining each part of a stroke -- and relating this stroke to a personality trait -- a handwriting analyst can begin to get a picture of a writer.
But analysts can't simply list the traits that are evident. They also need to evaluate the strength of each of the traits and figure out how they're interrelated in order to come up with a whole picture of a person's personality.
Bly became interested in tracking people's personalities through handwriting almost 20 years ago. At that time, she worked as a company administrator. "Some of our staff were finding dealing with some of the engineers very difficult," she says.
Instead of also complaining about the engineers' personality flaws, Bly decided to do something about the situation. "Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, I took samples of the engineers' handwriting and analyzed them," she says.
"I was able to point out all of the good qualities of the engineers and explain them to the staff," she says. "Once these traits had been explained to them, and they understood the workers better, they were then able to work well together."
Bly says that tracing people's personality traits also helps her place people in correct job positions. "It can be very beneficial in placing people in the proper jobs," she says. "Businesses these days use a lot of teamwork."
In order to come up with a winning team, the personality and strength of each member must be acknowledged. "You look to see who has leadership, who has motivational skills and how people's different assets will work together," she says.
Handwriting analysis can be used in many, many different applications. "Some of our members are professionals who work full time and others are hobbyists," says Brett Hallongren. He is the vice-president of the International Graphoanalysis Society in Chicago.
"So many people use graphoanalysis," he adds. "It's used in business, by educators and the clergy -- anywhere that personality assessment is important."
"Priests, nuns, marriage counselors...many people use handwriting analysis as a tool," agrees Bly.
Handwriting analysis is also a part of jury selection. "Lawyers are then better able to select the type of person they want on the jury."
Doctors also occasionally use handwriting analysis. "My doctor asked me to look at an anonymous letter that he received," says Bly. She gave a personality sketch, and the doctor was able to narrow the possible letter writers down to three people.
"Unfortunately, he never did find out who sent it."
Handwriting analysts aren't always looking to see what personality traits are found in handwriting. They sometimes look to see what traits are missing.
One of Bly's colleagues works with disturbed children. "She always looks to see what is missing in the handwriting," says Bly.
"If she sees there was no pride in the handwriting, she then wonders why not. Sometimes she could look and see fears and defenses, and that would help understand what the child is trying to cope with. It can be one more way to understand someone."
Handwriting analysis isn't for everyone. "You don't have to have a college degree to do this, but you have to be detail-oriented," says Hallongren. "If you don't have any interest in details, this certainly isn't for you. But if you do, it's a field you can get into and really enjoy."