You’re probably seeing a number of Donald Trump’s signature recently, because of his many current executive orders. His autograph is fairly laborious to overlook — it’s angular, harsh and fairly gigantic. Handwriting analysts, often known as graphologists, say they’ll glean persona insights from his writing.
However, very like different professions that declare to decipher one’s persona by way of issues that aren’t direct persona evaluation, it’s hotly debated whether or not handwriting evaluation is definitely an actual option to perceive an individual.
Graphology is usually considered to be a pseudoscience, that means one thing that claims to be based mostly in reality however isn’t really. However the graphologists who spoke to HuffPost disagree with that characterization of the sphere and say the way in which an individual’s letters slant or curve and the route of their pen strokes can reveal lots about anybody, together with Trump.
In keeping with Valerie Weil, a graphologist and handwriting evaluation trainer based mostly in Georgia, graphology was lumped in with occult sciences within the Dewey Decimal System, which broken its credibility. “That was flawed. That was completely flawed as a result of it’s not occult sciences, it’s behavioral sciences, which is extra psychology,” Weil added.
“And it was in 1980 that … the Library of Congress modified that and moved us out of the occult sciences and put us into three completely different fields,” Weil mentioned. “We’re in forensics, we’re in human useful resource personnel choice and we’re in diagnostic psychologies. So we’re in three completely different fields. We’re not listed within the occult.”
And whereas there are studies that find flaws in graphology, there are additionally studies that support its strategies, mentioned Sheila Lowe, a forensic handwriting examiner and author in California.
Our present president even once claimed that he himself is a handwriting analyst in a publish on X (previously generally known as Twitter). We requested graphologists to check out Trump’s handwriting and his signature and share what his writing signifies by way of his persona.
It’s as much as you whether or not you need to consider that graphology unveils components of somebody’s character, however the graphologists we spoke to say our writing, and Trump’s writing, speaks volumes. Right here’s what they informed us.
General, a signature exhibits the way you need to be considered by others — and in Trump’s case, meaning a couple of very particular issues.
Signatures symbolize the way you hope to be seen by others, mentioned Weil, and never how you’re feeling about your self or the way you relate to these round you. (That’s the place evaluation of your precise handwriting is available in.)
“There’s a variety of follow to signatures, and keep in mind, that’s the one factor that you just write extra persistently all through your lifetime than anything. You write your signature over and over and over,” added Weil.
In relation to Trump’s signature, Weil famous that the letters largely look the identical, so it’s tough to make out the person characters in his signature. “The anomaly behind his signature says that you just by no means actually get to know the true me. He retains that extra non-public,” Weil mentioned.
“He desires to be seen as robust and daring and any individual that you just don’t mess with. That’s what I get from that signature,” Lowe famous.
This may be seen within the lack of area between the letters and phrases in his signature, Lowe mentioned. Its compact nature is conserving and controlling the area, she famous.
“So, that is any individual who has a robust have to really feel like he’s in command of his atmosphere, which may make him come on robust in defending that so that is manifested by the way in which he acts in an authoritarian method, dominating the atmosphere, simply taking on,” Lowe famous.
The scale of sure letters is telling, too. “The biggest capital letter is the ‘T’ and Trump, which says that there’s some favoritism on a household title,” Weil mentioned, and added that the “J” in his center title is nearly hidden.
“However so far as the place he places the prominence, he’s very snug with being related to the Trump household. And … some individuals may have a bigger first title then a smaller surname — these are those that need to be acknowledged for who they had been slightly than who the household is,” Weil famous.
Bloomberg through Getty Photographs
There are many angles and straight traces in his signature, which additionally imply a couple of issues.
“All the things in handwriting is symbolic, actually, and so we have a look at whether or not the traces are curved or the traces are straight, and when there’s a variety of straight traces, as in his case, it’s a variety of aggression there and probably anger and issues like that,” Lowe mentioned.
Against this, curved writing tends to indicate emotion, Lowe defined. “So, what we search for, hopefully, is a stability — however there is no such thing as a stability in that signature,” Lowe mentioned.
The angles in his signature present that he’s analytical and clever, mentioned Weil, however it additionally signifies a sharpness and shortness.
“The primary factor that I see after I have a look at his signature is the impatience. It’s quick. It’s shifting. He doesn’t wish to look again. He doesn’t wish to need to double-check himself. He’s very insistent, nearly to the purpose of vanity. On this means, he likes a contest,” Weil mentioned.
This has to do with the angularity, along with the heaviness of the downstrokes, she mentioned. This exhibits dedication whereas the stress of the traces exhibits the depth of his insistence, Weil added.
To go deeper, it’s vital to take a look at his handwriting, along with his signature.
Lowe equated signatures to the quilt of a guide — they’re outward-facing but don’t inform the total story, which is the place handwriting, which may paint a full image, is available in and Trump’s handwriting and signature fluctuate significantly, each consultants mentioned.
His handwriting, as seen here in a note to former basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, tends to be fairly boxy, which holds that means.
“The physique of the textual content is a type of a squarish kind, and sq. handwriting, particularly on this case, are an indication of a deep want for safety,” Lowe mentioned. “And that doesn’t essentially imply monetary safety, though it might, however it simply signifies that particular person is all the time type of centered internally on constructing.”
“An individual with this type of want for safety, it’s a must to suppose, ‘Why? He’s obtained extra money than God. Why does he want safety?’ As a result of he’s by no means felt safe emotionally. And in order that comes out in different methods,” Lowe added.
The slant to his writing is critical, too.
When Trump’s handwriting particularly, Lowe observed that he tends to put in writing on a diagonal, which is seen in examples just like the above observe to Abdul-Jabbar and in a message to the Police Officers Association of Michigan.
“At any time when he can, he writes on a diagonal, and it’s type of a rebellious factor, you realize? I’m going to do issues my very own means as a result of different individuals don’t usually do this,” Lowe mentioned.
Along with writing on a diagonal, his signature tends to be slanted, which signifies that he’s outgoing, mentioned Weil.
Mark Wilson through Getty Photographs
Consultants say the ‘communication letters’ in his handwriting are obstructed, which is telling.
“The opposite factor that’s vital about his writing is that there’s often just a little hook form in most of the ovals, the ‘Os,’ and that … in handwriting evaluation, that’s typically thought-about an indication of any individual who’s lower than truthful,” mentioned Lowe.
O’s are thought-about communication letters. “They need to be open and clear, clear communication, however when there’s interference in there, stuff that doesn’t belong, it interferes with clear communication,” Lowe famous.
His use of a thick, felt pen speaks volumes, too.
“He all the time makes use of, I imply, nearly all the time makes use of, a thick felt pen,” Lowe mentioned.
Not solely do the thick, broad and darkish traces give a sense of energy, however you “can have all of the emphasis with out a variety of the work,” mentioned Weil. Which means, you don’t want a lot stress to create a daring line.
Lowe mentioned of us who typically use a thick felt pen “like all the trimmings of the great life.”
“I do know he doesn’t drink, however on the whole, wonderful wine and good meals and robust colours and issues like that, however with out placing a variety of vitality into getting them. They simply need it to return simply,” Lowe famous.
“I wish to say that handwriting reveals a variety of actually vital details about an individual, however it doesn’t inform every part,” Lowe mentioned. “We are able to’t say, ‘Oh yeah, I can inform every part about you out of your handwriting,’ however there are specific issues — these social expertise, or social type, mental type, state of the ego … however we actually can’t inform all of your particular secrets and techniques.”
Trump’s persona is his and his alone, similar to his handwriting and signature. You possibly can select to learn into the that means behind his writing type or let his direct actions inform your ideas on his persona. Nonetheless, although, each his daring signature and his bristly persona seem intentional.
