英文原文

【英文原文】

摘要：笔体学旨在研究人的笔迹以提示人的性格。虽然大多数科学家称之为伪科学，笔体学在欧洲仍然流行。美国有些公司在雇佣员工时也要征求笔体学家的意见。

Graphology is the study of a person’s handwriting to reveal something about his or her personality. Although most scientists regard graphology as a pseudoscience, its practice is widespread in Europe. Many American business firms consult graphologists for advice about which people to hire.

Some principles of graphology are true. For example, handwriting can show whether a person is sick, old, or nervous. But most of the other principles of graphology lack scientific proof. For example, graphologists claim that lines slanting upward indicate high spirits, and that lines slanting downward show low spirits.

The serious study of the relationship between handwriting and personality has been more widespread in Europe than in other places in the world. In the last 19th century, the French psychologist Alfred Binet tested seven graphologists. He asked them to distinguish writing samples of average man. All the graphologists performed better than expected, and one scored correctly on 92 per cent of the cases. But most other attempts to prove the exact relationships between personality and handwriting have not been successful.

Though graphology probably has limited value, many psychologists consider the study of handwriting a useful method to obtain information about a patient’s personality without asking direct questions about it. Several universities in Europe still teach graphology courses now.

中文译文

【中文译文】

笔体学旨在研究人的笔迹以提示人的性格。虽然大多数科学家称之为伪科学，笔体学在欧洲仍然流行。美国有些公司在雇佣员工时也要征求笔体学家的意见。

笔体学的某些原则还是可信的。比如，笔迹可以显示一个人是否有病、衰老或精神紧张。但其他说法，如向上斜的横线表明一个人情绪高昂，向下斜的横线表一个人心灰意冷，则缺乏科学根据。

在欧洲，有人对笔迹与人格的关联做过认真的研究。19世纪末，法国心理学家比奈测试了七位笔体学家，要求他们从很多人笔迹中辨认出智商较高者的笔迹。所有的笔体学家的正确率都相当不错，其中一个的正确率高达92%。但试图证实笔迹与人格关系的其他研究都没有获得成功。

虽然笔体学的价值有限，但有些心理学家认为研究笔迹仍不失为一种从侧面了解病人人格的办法。欧洲的一些大学里仍有笔体学课程。