GRAPHOLOGY
SCIENCE OR PSEUDOSCIENCE ?
NANCY CETRULO
MARCH 27, 2013
Executive Summary
Although graphology has been studied by many cultures for many centuries, there is little scientific data to support its claims of determining a psychological profile of a person. It can only be considered a pseudoscience. Graphology is held to the same standards as psychiatry and psychology that require reliable scientific validity. Although my intuition wants to believe that there is a connection between the mind and the pen-in-hand, I think most mindful thinking people will reject infringing on people’s rights, or imprisoning them, until proof is provided with reliable and consistent testing results. Sometimes called “brainwriting”, perhaps is one of the reasons it has gained some notoriety in the public arena in recent years. Also, the enactment of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988, the EPPA, gave rise to the increasing usage of graphology, as employers can no longer use the polygraph to screen potential or current employees for human resource purposes. It is more widely used in Europe than in the United States. It has been proposed by some opponents to initiate a total ban on the use of this technique for employment practices and in the courts on the grounds of discriminatory practices and privacy issues. Without reliable, repeatable, scientific data to prove validity, I believe it should not be used to convict people of crimes or prevent them from acquiring employment. At this point in time there is far too much subjectivity, and a lack of standardization, therefore graphology should not be allowed in public and legal forums. It must be noted that graphology and forensic handwriting analysis are not one and the same. Forensic handwriting analysis, or forensic examination, is considered a science used to determine whether the authors of documents, or the signatures on legal papers, are valid and true. It can be utilized to...
