Let us start with a definition: by someone's handwriting we mean the way he writes, from a graphical point of view (in other terms, we are in no way interested into the contents).
Graphology is the discipline that aims to explore the writer's character based on his handwriting.
Graphology has a "prehistory" two millenia long, and over 120 years of sistematic research, brought on indepentently in different countries. This gave rise to several different methods — but one could say that its cradle is France.
Its applications are manifold:
- Personality portrait, to get a description of the most salient traits of one's personality;
- Developmental graphology, to recognize children undergoing stressful or painful periods — or simply aid the choice of the most suited school;
- Human resources, to aid in the selection of the best candidates and in helping them to develop their potentials in the interests both of their career and of the firm;
- Strictly in an équipe with psychologists and physicians, to help facing mental disorders.
Finally, there is the distinct but related field of forensic analysss of handwritted documents, like wills and testaments, signatures, anonymous letters, …
In any case, the graphologist need to have enough materials to work with — some extra-graphological informations are necessary too.