What does your handwriting say about you? Study finds more than 5,000 personality traits are linked to how we write

People who write letters close together are intrusive and crowd others

Illegible signatures mean a person is private and difficult to understand

Words or sentences that vary to the rest of the text suggest it is a lie

Schizophrenia and high blood pressure can also be identified from writing



Are you an outgoing, sceptical people pleaser? Or an arrogant, practical person who has a tendency to lie?



According to research from the National Pen Company in the U.S., your handwriting can give away clues about 5,000 different personality traits based on the way you space your letters, how you sign your name, and even how you connect the letter 'o' and 's' to other letters in a word.



It can even be used to identify potential health problems including schizophrenia, high blood pressure as well as how much energy you have.



Scroll down for the full infographic



According to the National Pen Company in the U.S., the size of someone's handwriting can determine the type of personality they have. People with small handwriting tend to be shy, studious and meticulous, whereas outgoing people who love attention will have larger handwriting People who leave large gaps between words enjoy their freedom and don't like to be crowded, while people who write words close together can't stand to be alone and might be intrusive

The process of analysing handwriting is called graphology.



It is classed as a pseudoscientific because there are debates about how accurate it can be at determining psychological and even physical attributes.



Some companies use graphology during recruitment processes and the methods have also been used in court cases.



The research carried out by the National Pen Company brought together a range of graphology studies to create its infographic.



According to the graphic, the size of someone's handwriting can determine the type of personality they have.



People with small handwriting tend to be shy, studious and meticulous, whereas outgoing people who love attention will have larger handwriting.



The type of looping created by the letters 'l' and 'e' can suggest a person's nature, for example, wide loops means someone is relaxed and spontaneous as well as open minded. People who write narrow loops tend to be skeptical of others and may restrict themselves from certain activities, which causes feelings of tension

If the dot of a letter is situated high above the base it suggests the writer has a great imagination. If the dot is close to the base, they are organised and empathetic. Procrastinators tend to dot their 'i's and 'j's to the left of the base letter, while child-like personality types will draw their dots as circles

Long crosses on 't's suggests someone who is determined and enthusiastic, but also stubborn. Short crosses tend to be written by someone who is lazy

If handwriting is an average size - in that the top of the letters sit just below the centre of line - the writer is well-adjusted and adaptable.



Moving onto the spacing of words, people who leave large gaps between words enjoy their freedom and don't like to be crowded, while people who write words close together can't stand to be alone and might be intrusive.



If handwriting slants to the right the person is open to new experiences and enjoy meeting new people. If handwriting slants to the left, that person tends to keep themselves to themselves.



People whose handwriting doesn't slant in either direction are logical and practical.



Personality traits are also identifiable by the way individual letters are written.



People who write rounded letters are more creative and artistic while pointed letters are a sign of aggression or intelligence. Connected letters mean the writer is logical. People who specifically write rounded lowercase 's' letters are people pleasers, although if the bottom is too wide, they're not following their heart in something



According to the graphic, the type of looping created by the letters 'l' and 'e' can suggest a person's nature, for example, wide loops means someone is relaxed and spontaneous as well as open minded.



Alternatively, people who write narrow loops tend to be skeptical of others and may restrict themselves from certain activities, which causes feelings of tension.



The way people dot their 'i's and cross their 't's can also be a personality indicator.



If the dot of the letter is situated high above the base it suggests the writer has a great imagination.



If the dot is close to the base, they are organised and empathetic.



Procrastinators tend to dot their 'i's and 'j's to the left of the base letter, while child-like personality types will draw their dots as circles.



People who place heavy pressure on the pen when they write, which causes darker, thicker handwriting are good with commitment and taking things seriously. Light-handed writers tend to be empathetic and sensitive but lack vitality. If someone writes quickly they are impatient while and slower writers are more methodical



Slashes used in the place of dots mean the writer doesn't have patience for inadequacy or are overly self-critical and are annoyed by people who don't learn from their mistakes.



Long crosses on 't's suggests someone who is determined and enthusiastic, but also stubborn. Short crosses tend to be written by someone who is lazy.



People who write rounded letters are more creative and artistic while pointed letters are a sign of aggression or intelligence. Connected letters mean the writer is logical.

When people write the letter 'o' with a loop or hole at the top of the letter, it means they are talkative and sociable, while closed 'o's indicate someone who is private.

Similarly, a rounded lowercase 's' means the writer is a people pleaser, but if the rounded bottom is too wide it suggests they may not be following their heart either in their career or other pursuits.



People who place heavy pressure on the pen when they write, which can cause darker, thicker handwriting, are good with commitment and taking things seriously but don't respond well to criticism.



Light-handed writers tend to be empathetic and sensitive but lack vitality.



Illegible signatures, left, are a sign that the writer is private and hard to read. More legible signatures, right, are a sign of confidence

If handwriting slants to the right, the writer is open to new experiences. If handwriting slants to the left, that person tends to keep themselves to themselves

If someone writes quickly they are impatient and dislike delays or time wasters, and slower writers are more methodical and self reliant.



The graph also claims that a person's health can be identified from their handwriting, for example, people with high blood pressure tend to have writing that is sometimes heavy and dark, and at other times light.



Schizophrenics tend to have writing that switches direction in the way that it slants, between left and right, and this is supposedly a sign of a person 'not having continual contact with reality'.



One of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease is very small cramped handwriting, known as micrographia.



Handwriting with heavy pressure is also a sign of high energy levels, whereas light pressure is a sign of tiredness.



In other tests, writing the capital letter 'I' much larger than other capitals is usually written by someone who is arrogant and have a high opinion of themselves.



Writing that changes dramatically over the course of a text is symbolic of lying.



What does your handwriting say about you?



