Lack of evidence for the assessment of personality traits using handwriting analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Gawda
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Handwriting Analysis

Abstract Background: The aim of the study is to clarify the beliefs and numerous doubts about the possible identification of personality in handwriting. The purpose of the described studies was to show an association between personality traits and handwriting features. The author aimed to verify whether or not there are any specific characteristics of writing in relation to personality traits. | Method: Two different studies have been described. A different number of subjects participated in the investigations and different techniques for personality assessment were used; however, the same set of handwriting features was analyzed in each study. In the first study the NEO-FFI (n=260) was used, while the EPQ-R (n=180) was used in the second study. The graphic characteristics of the handwriting samples were examined by forensic experts. | Results: The correlations between the personality traits and handwriting features were counted. The results showed that there were few significant correlations between handwriting parameters and personality traits, as measured by the NEO-FFI and EPQ-R. | Conclusions: No writing characteristics were specific to personality traits. There is no evidence for assessment of personality on the base of handwriting

Handwriting Analysis and Personality Assessment

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Greasley
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Handwriting Analysis ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Personnel Recruitment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Better Than

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.

Validation of Graphoanalysis by “Global” or “Holistic” Method

1977 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Crumbaugh ◽  
Emilie Stockholm
Keyword(s):  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Statistical Study ◽  
Handwriting Analysis ◽  
Expressive Movement ◽  
Projective Techniques ◽  
Matching Technique ◽  
Total Data ◽  
Holistic Method

Graphoanalysis is the most systematically developed and best researched of all methods of handwriting analysis (generically called graphology). This is a projective expressive movement that is neither better nor more poorly validated than most projective techniques as a means of personality assessment, which is inadequate because their subjectivity makes statistical study difficult. With all projective techniques “sign” or trait validation has been minimal, and the best validation has come from “global” or “holistic” methods. The present study presents a paradigm for the latter type of approach to handwriting analysis, using a matching technique with probabilities of 1/5, wherein five subjects were matched by people who knew them to one of five blind Graphoanalyses of the subjects' writing. This design is herein replicated five times, with total data significantly different from chance expectation ( p < .001), supporting the hypothesis that it is possible to evaluate personality through analysis of handwriting.

scholarly journals The Association Between Personality and Homebound Status in Older Adults: Results From the NHATS

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 233-233
Author(s):  
Xiaocao Sun ◽  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Christina E Miyawaki ◽  
Yuxiao Li ◽  
Tianxue Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults ◽  
Ordinal Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Hispanic White

Abstract Personality is associated with predictors of homebound status like frailty, incident falls, and depression. It has been rarely investigated whether personality predicts homebound status among older adults. Using the combining cross-sectional data of the Year 2013 and Year 2014 data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), this study examined the association between personality traits and homebound status in a sample of community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older (N=2,788). Homebound status (non-homebound, semi-homebound, and homebound) was determined by the frequency, difficulty, and help of outdoor mobility. Personality traits, including conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion, and neuroticism were assessed using the 10-item Midlife Development Inventory on a rating scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a lot). Each personality trait was included as a predictor in an ordinal logistic regression model to examine its association with homebound status after adjusting demographic and health-related covariates. The sample was on average 79±7.53 years old, non-Hispanic White (72.0%), female (58.6%), living alone (35.4%) or with spouse/partner only (37.4%). Seventy-four percent, 18%, and 8% of participants were non-homebound, semi-homebound, and homebound, respectively. Homebound participants tended to be less-educated older females. The average scores of conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion, and neuroticism were 3.19±0.75, 3.57±0.56, 2.81±0.83, 3.13±0.75, and 2.22±0.86, respectively. Among these five personality traits, high conscientiousness (OR=1.34, p&lt;0.001) and extraversion (OR=1.16, p=.03) were associated with a reduced likelihood of being homebound. These findings provided a basis for potential personality assessment to identify and protect individuals with high homebound risk.

Expressed Symptoms and Personality Traits in Conversion Hysteria

1968 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Schucman ◽  
William N. Thetford
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Personality Patterns ◽  
Personality Features

The study was based on the Personality Assessment System (PAS), a new approach to relating personality traits to Wechsler test performance. The purpose was to study relations between PAS personality patterns and expressed symptoms in conversion hysterics. This group was chosen because their symptoms presumably reflect essential personality features. The sample of 124 Ss was divided in 2 parts, the data being obtained and analyzed separately. 3 specific hypotheses, in line with PAS constructs, were formulated on the basis of findings obtained with the first part and tested with the second. 2 of the 3 hypotheses were upheld.

scholarly journals Formalized Computer-Aided Handwriting Psychology: Validation and Integration into Psychological Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Yury Chernov ◽  
Claudia Caspers
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Psychological Assessment ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Personality Factor ◽  
Personality Test ◽  
Handwriting Analysis ◽  
Context Specificity ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
Personality Factor Questionnaire

In contrast to traditional researches that involve a manual, non-quantitative, and subjective way of performing handwriting analysis, in the current research, a special computer-aided method of revised handwriting analysis is used. It includes the detection of personality traits via manual quantitative registration of handwriting signs and their automated quantitative evaluation. This method is based on a mathematical–statistical model that integrates multiple international publications on the evaluation of handwriting signs. The first aim is the validation of the revised method against the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire Revised (16PF-R), which is performed as a self-report personality test by test persons and was developed and researched empirically by Raymond B. Cattell et al. A second aim is the development of an integrated model for assessment including handwriting analysis: when both methods come to the same result on a certain scale, then the construct can be accepted with higher reliability; in contrast, when results are contradictory, they should be regarded as a limitation of each method and raise awareness in the researchers, as these contradictions are a precious source of additional information regarding the complexity, ambiguity, and context specificity of personality traits.

Conversion Reactions and Personality Traits

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1005-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N. Thetford ◽  
Helen Schucman
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Patient Groups

2 previously supported hypotheses were tested with 30 Ss showing conversion reactions. Relations between their symptoms and personality traits as identified by the Personality Assessment System (PAS) were studied. The results support the hypotheses and provide further evidence of the usefulness of the PAS in studying patient groups.

Personality traits in parents of people with autism

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan O'Hanrahan ◽  
Michael Fitzgerald ◽  
Myra O'Regan
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Personality Profile ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
The People

AbstractObjectives: This study set out to explore if there were measurable personality characteristics specific to parents of people with autism.Method: Parents of 12 people with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of autism presented for the study. Each of the people with autism were matched where possible with a counterpart without autism but with a lifelong disability on parameters of age, sex and IQ level. Parents of the ‘autism’ and ‘non-autism’ groups were then interviewed in detail using four personality assessment instruments. Scores were tabulated for both mothers and fathers in each group and intergroup comparisons were made.Results: No significant personality profile difference was identifiable between the two parental groups.Conclusions: Personality traits specific to parents of people with autism are not identifiable in this study thus casting doubt on the validity of personality phenotypes as measurable heritability factors in autism.

scholarly journals Bucher et al. Personality traits and treatment outcomes meta-analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Bucher ◽  
Takakuni Suzuki ◽  
Douglas Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Treatment Outcomes ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Therapy Outcomes ◽  
Duration Of Treatment ◽  
Therapeutic Outcomes ◽  
Common Framework

Personality traits have been hypothesized to be clinically useful for diagnosis, client conceptualization, treatment planning, as well as for predicting treatment outcomes. Although several studies examined the relation between personality traits and specific therapy outcomes, this literature has not yet been systematically reviewed. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the relations between personality traits and various therapeutic outcomes. Traits were organized via the domains of the five-factor model to provide a common framework for interpreting effects. Across 99 studies (N=107,206), overall findings indicated that traits were systematically related to outcomes, with many specific relations congruent with theorized predictions. Generally, lower levels of neuroticism and higher levels of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were associated with more favorable outcomes. More specifically, agreeableness had positive associations with therapeutic alliance and conscientiousness was positively related to abstinence from substances suggesting these traits are likely a beneficial factor to consider at the outset of services. Personality traits also related to various outcomes differently based on moderators. For example, duration of treatment moderated links between traits and outcomes suggesting these effects are amplified over longer services. Overall results suggest that personality assessment can aid with case conceptualization by suggesting potential strengths as well as barriers to treatment.

Situational Judgment Tests as an Alternative Measure for Personality Assessment

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 328-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Mussel ◽  
Thomas Gatzka ◽  
Johannes Hewig
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Alternative Measure ◽  
Applied Psychology ◽  
Situational Judgment Test ◽  
Situational Judgment ◽  
Situational Judgment Tests

Abstract. Across many domains of applied psychology, personality traits are related to important outcomes such as well-being, psychological disorders, work performance, and academic achievement. However, self-reports, the most common approach to personality assessment, have certain limitations and disadvantages, such as being prone to faking. We investigated whether situational judgment tests, an established assessment technique to predict job performance, might serve as an alternative measure for the assessment of personality. Our results show that a situational judgment test specifically developed to assess narrow personality traits may possess high levels of construct validity. Additionally, our results indicate that the situational judgment was equivalent to a self-report personality measure with regard to predicting a number of theoretically related criteria. We conclude that situational judgment tests may serve as an alternative method for the assessment of personality and discuss potential theoretical and applied drawbacks.

Gamified Personality Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ard J. Barends ◽  
Reinout E. de Vries ◽  
Mark van Vugt
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Personality Assessment ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Behavioral Cues ◽  
Office Environments

Abstract. Unobtrusive behavioral cues of personality traits can be found in physical and virtual environments (e.g., office environments and social media profiles), but detecting and coding such cues are a painstaking effort, and therefore impractical for research purposes. Measuring people’s choices in a virtual, gamified environment may offer a suitable substitute. It is currently unknown whether Honesty-Humility can also be assessed in a virtual environment. In two studies, we demonstrate that Honesty-Humility can be inferred with at least modest validity from virtual behavior cues. In a third study, we tested the fakeability of the virtual cues. This study found that even under faking instructions the virtual cues were related to Honesty-Humility, however, the virtual cues were just as fakeable as self-reported Honesty-Humility. Our results imply that virtual cues can be incorporated in serious games to measure personality. Future research may investigate whether the identified virtual cues are able to predict important Honesty-Humility related outcomes.

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