Handwriting analysis (graphology).

Graphology or handwriting analysis is an effective means of deciphering the personality and behavior of people, being used more and more in  recruitment and hiring, interviews and selections, counseling and career planning, as well as character analysis of the persons that violates the law.

In the late ’90s, most American companies and organizations used (and still use) handwriting analysis for recruitment and selection, personnel testing (psychological testing) and motivation. “The Wall Street Journal” in 1988, published the following news: in France, Spain, Holland and Israel about 80% of the top 500 fastest growing companies use handwriting analysis in human resource management, having consultants in graphology or having experts in handwriting analysis employed full-time.

Pygmalion Effect – the vicious circle that defines our results

We have all heard of the “self-fulfilling prophecy“. One way to look at this idea is to say that “we get what we expect” and if we expect something to happen, our expectation will tend to make it so.

Learn subliminal messages you can use to influence people

Subliminal influencing is all about persuading people to make decisions based upon subtle messages, gestures or images that they might not be aware of. Whether you’re interacting with co-workers, friends or complete strangers, it helps to have the skill of coaxing others to follow your lead. It might not come naturally to you. But with enough rehearsal, you’ll quickly find that others submit to your influence with little resistance.

Read body language, signs and gestures

It has happened to me sometimes to find more useful the ability to decode nonverbal communication while talking with persons that where using another language.

I’m not trying to rebulid the nonverbal alphabet but to group nonverbal communication and highlight only those gestures that are common. Those elements of communication that people use mostly and whose understanding is essential.

The Halo Effect Experiment

A classic finding in social psychology, the Halo Effect is the idea that our overall impression of a person can be based on one trait about them. For example, if someone has a likeable personality, people might find that person’s other qualities more appealing. In a recent experiment, a man made two videos for a dating website. In the first video, he read the script in an upbeat manner, whereas in the second, he read the same script in a more melancholy fashion. The first video was given to a one group of girls and the second was given to another group, who watched the video in a separate room. The girls who watched the upbeat video found the man to be likeable, while the girls who watched the second video found the man to be unpleasant, even though he had read the exact same script. Thus demonstrating the importance of tone in the perception of overall attractiveness and modeling the Halo Effect in action.