Relationship Between Personality and Kinematic Parameters of Handwriting

Motor and cognitive systems are largely involved in producing handwriting that develops with age becoming more and more personalized until it reaches a style proper to the subject. This fact has led graphologists to assert that by examining the handwriting it is possible to somehow trace the personality of the writer. Many studies have been carried out to demonstrate this assumption but they are all based on the graphic examination of the tract left on the sheet of paper. On the other hand, recently it has been possible to examine writing through the use of digital tablets capable of providing information also on the kinematic of the movement, extracting parameters used to examine in particular dysgraphia and some neurological pathologies. Aim of this study was to determine possible relationships between kinematic parameters extracted using digital tablets and personality traits. Sixty-one subjects took part in the study, executing three writing tasks (fast and accurate writing of an Italian phrase and fast sequence of cursive lowercase letters “lelele” without pen lifting for 30 s) and a personality test (IPIP-NEO-120). The linear regression between each of fourteen characteristic of handwriting and each of the five personality traits was computed. The results showed that four out of five main psychological tracts presented a linear relation with one or more kinematic characteristics. This study offers a first glance at a complex series of correlations, which will be investigated in future researches.