Studying handwriting was long thought of as a way to delve into the psyche. In fact in 1991, 91 per cent of French companies still used graphologists to screen job applicants. They scrutinised the size, shape, spacing, angles, slopes, links, pen pressure and deviation from the norm to assess personality traits. While the science on this is sketchy, we do know that messy writing may be a sign of ADD and increasingly illegible scrawl could signal cognitive decline.
Though more than the science, it’s the romance of handwriting that we often yearn for. “I’m an actress, a writer ... a pretty good cook, and a firm believer in handwritten notes,” said Meghan Markle before marrying Prince Harry.
Handwriting is more than wellmannered, though. Research shows us that it has a positive effect on emotional health. In a 1999 study in Journal of Traumatic Stress, transcribing a stressful experience by hand had a greater positive outcome than typing it out. It seems the manual act of putting pen to paper is therapy in itself. Emoticons were invented to bring feeling into typing. When we write, however, we can use emotion to shape our lettering, express ourselves by doodling in the margins, and see the progression of our thinking as we cross out and rewrite whole sentences.
Writing by hand also lights up the brain’s learning zones more than tapping away, the same study notes. A 2014 investigation found that for learning, longhand was more effective than laptop note-taking. That’s because we can’t write fast enough to copy down verbatim, so we take the time to think, process and condense instead, learning more deeply along the way.
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の March 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の March 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
