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Similarities in Handwriting of Closely Related People

NCJ Number
186085
Journal
International Journal of Forensic Document Examiners Volume: 5 Dated: December/January 1999 Pages: 221-232
Author(s)
Hubert Hladij
Date Published
1999
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This research examined whether the handwriting of closely related people has important similarities and, if so, in which group of graphic features they occur.
Abstract
This preliminary study used three generations of one family that lived in the same neighborhood for a long period of time. This family can be viewed as an endogamic group because the marriages in it were contracted between couples from one village. The samples of handwriting consisted of a short, specially prepared text taken from 27 family members over 16 years old and then compared among the generations. No similarities were found between grandparents' handwriting and the script of previous generations. This can be explained by the fact that calligraphic pattern was different in the oldest generation, and their motor skills for writing were worse than those of the previous one. Better correlation was claimed between the handwriting of the youngest generation and their parents. These similarities, however, were not so frequent for some family relations, and they were limited to general view and the motor aspect of writing, as well as to singular resemblances in letter shape or structure. These similarities occurred across genders rather than within genders. Because of the preliminary character of the study, it was not possible to state how important such dependence is and whether it is based on genetic factors. 28 figures and 6 references

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