It’s no surprise that you can learn a lot about someone based on what they write. However, did you know that you can learn just as much about them based on how they write?
Whether you’re jotting down notes or signing important documents, your handwriting may be a powerful window into your subconscious mind.
1. Heavy vs. soft pen pressure
Can you feel the imprints of your handwriting on the other side of the page? If so, that’s a sign that you used heavy pressure, which can be an indicator of intensity, energy and physical strength, as well as forcefulness, aggressiveness, controlling tendencies and/or stress. “Depending on what else we see in the handwriting, we may say this writer has a good constitution, is energetic and enjoys being active,” she says. “In a different writing sample, we may find signs of aggression: someone temperamental, possibly reactive and irritable.”
If your pressure is soft, on the other hand, and features unusually rounded letters, it could be indicative of a yielding, hesitant personality. “This may be somebody who grew up with a dominant or aggressive caretaker or sibling and never learned how to be assertive,” Poizner explains.