Your handwriting reveals so much about your personality. In fact, a well trained graphologist can recognize over a hundred personality traits in just one page of a handwritten letter. While the body of the writing shows the person’s day-to-day personality, the signature is like his nicely taken picture, for it shows how he wants to appear to the world around him. It is like a business card that represents how the person wants to be perceived by others and how he thinks others think of him. Therefore, oftentimes you’ll notice that the body of writing differs greatly from the signature; it is like an ordinary day’s clothing (body of writing) compared with your Sunday’s best (signature) where you only want to show off your best for people to see.
Your self-image can be determined by analyzing your signature. It will reveal your social skills, how you relate to your parents (especially your father), how honest you are, your stability, confidence level, and how you compare yourself to others. Those traits will be shown in the size of your signature, if it is slanting to the left or right, size of first name versus last name, how large or small the initial letters are, if there are any additional strokes above, under, or directly on the signature, pressure, length and width of individual strokes, where it is placed in relation to the rest of the writing, as well as many other details.
If the signature is about the same as the rest of the writing in its size, slant, pressure, and style the person will behave the same in public as in private. They don’t need to put up a mask to show something they are not when around others and with them what you see is what you get.
Sometimes you’ll see a signature that is slightly larger than the body of the writing which signifies that the writer has a healthy self esteem and confidence when around others.
When the signature is much larger than the writing, the author wants to be seen and heard wherever he goes. In actuality he feels a little small inside and therefore he tries to appear extra big to compensate for his insecurities. It is the same principle as in life: if someone constantly brags about his conquests in public, you can be sure that it is for the sole purpose of overcompensating for his doubts about himself in those very areas.
A signature that is smaller than the body of writing indicates insecurity. This person tends to be shy and would rather be in the shadows in a social situation. Getting attention is not on his list.
How about two different styles in writing: the body is right slanted, while the signature is vertical? Right slanted writing signifies someone who freely expresses emotional feelings, is affectionate and passionate. A vertical slant is used by people who are always in control, level headed, and show no emotion. Well, his signature is his public persona, so he will appear cool and collected to strangers, acquaintances, and coworkers, while at home (body of writing) he’ll be warm and tender with his family.
Now, how about the opposite: vertical writing with right slanted signature? This writer will be fun to be around, the kind of guy you want to take to every party, but at home he’ll be distant and not easy to approach.
I’m sure that you have encountered the following quite often: legible writing with a scribbled signature; this person wants to make sure that you will be clear about what is written, but would rather not communicate anything about himself. This will be seen in people who are not in a direct relationship with you and always in a hurry, i.e. doctors. Now, when you get a note like that from someone you know and that signature is at a distance from the rest of the writing, you can be pretty sure that the writer does not want to even be associated with the text written above, this is often seen in “Dear John” letters.
Now to the opposite: the body of writing is scribbled so you cannot make out what it says even if you tried, but the signature is clear as water. This writer does not care about conveying his thoughts to the reader, all he cares about is himself and he wants to make a big impression. Those people tend to be egotistic.
How about when both the body and the signature are illegible? This person does not really want to communicate his thoughts to you and does not want you to get to know him either. This individual might be going through some sadness in his life and does not want outside influences. He writes but is careless about anyone reading it. He’d rather be non-communicative.
An ascending signature (climbing up a hill) shows a person with a positive self image who is energetic and enthusiastic. If the body of writing is leveled, but the signature is climbing, you can be sure that he feels good about the image he is projecting.
On the contrary, a descending signature (climbing down the hill), represents depression and disappointment. When you see a woman writing only her last name going down, it is only that part of her life that she is disappointed and disillusioned with. If a man writes his last name going down (or much smaller in size than his first name) there is disappointment and negative feelings about his father figure.
Rarely people would underline their signature, but those who do express a healthy self esteem and positive reaffirmation of themselves and are content with what they do and who they are. When you see one underline, you are dealing with a person who is confident, with two underlines, someone who has the strength, determination, dedication, motivation, and emotional stamina to achieve just about anything they want in life. These people also strongly believe that they deserve only the best things in life and they will relentlessly strive until they achieve all their goals.
On the opposite, those who make something of a long funnel looking zig-zag under their names doubt their own importance, but at least try to appear as if they were someone much more significant in the public eye.
Maybe you encountered a signature that is scored (a line runs through it), that shows a person with desires to self-destruct. When the writer made this line he felt anger and tension at this moment. Sometimes the scoring goes just through one part of the name. If its in the first name, he feels frustration toward himself. When you see it in the last name only, it signifies anger toward the father, or the person who carries that last name. Very seldom you’d see a name that is totally crossed out, this person does not want to exist anymore.
If you see someone’s signature that is underscored with a wavy line, he (or she, since it is more often seen in women) is rather lively, silly, and fun to be around. It is also a sign of someone who likes to flirt.
Overly large signature (check out some movie stars, politicians, and musicians) is a sign of someone who wants to be in the center of attention with the light shining on them. They desire to be famous and admired. They are proud and have an inflated ego (just like their writing).
Most of the time you’ll see a signature placed on the right of the page, but sometimes it is in the center. These people want to be in the middle of everything that’s going on. They want to know what’s going on all the time, every time. If it is placed to the left (as in a formatted letter) he is doubtful about his public persona. The left side represents wanting to stay in the past and the familiar and this person would rather stay with what he is used to and not leave his comfort zone.
Last but not least is a creative signature (check out Walt Disney and Edgar Allan Poe). It takes a courageous, self assured (but not arrogant) person to add some extra touches to his signature (flourishes for example). It is a sign of creativity, but if you see objects (Liberace used to sketch a piano under his name) being drawn in/near a signature (clubs, money signs, faces) it is time to run away. Those people may be dealing with some deeper personal issues with which you don’t want to get involved.
Our signatures change slightly with time and different life changing events (illness, trauma) will affect the way we sign our name. No matter how we sign our name, it will always reveal our innermost thoughts and desires.