In a December 2025 training session hosted by Handwriting University, world-renowned expert Bart Baggett teaches international students how to decipher personality traits through handwriting analysis.

The class reveals a deep exploration of atypical script strokes, specifically focusing on how elements in the "lower zone" of letters like "Y" and "G" may indicate sexual trauma, resentment, or aggression. Baggett and his students analyze samples from a 1980s book on criminal psychology, debating whether specific visual "hooks" or "stingers" reflect unconscious defenses or historical behavioral patterns.

The discussion emphasizes the importance of stacking multiple traits to form an accurate psychological profile rather than relying on isolated indicators. Ultimately, the session frames handwriting as a tool for understanding human attachment and identifying potential red flags in personal or professional relationships.

4 Disturbing Handwriting Secrets That Reveal Your Deepest Impulses

How much do you truly know about your own subconscious mind? We believe we are in control, yet our deepest desires, traumas, and psychological patterns often leak out in ways we never notice. It turns out that your handwriting, a seemingly automatic act, can be a direct line to these hidden parts of your personality. The way you loop a 'y' or form a 'd' can tell a story you aren't even aware you're writing.

To truly understand this, we’ll step inside the analytical process of world-renowned handwriting expert Bart Baggett as he deconstructs some of the most startling personality traits encountered in his work. This isn't just about listing secrets; it's about seeing how a master analyst deciphers the unconscious tics in our pen strokes to reveal the impulses we might not even know we have.

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1. The 'Sickle Stroke': When Past Anger Becomes a Weapon

In handwriting analysis, the "lower zone"—the area containing the loops of letters like 'y' and 'g'—relates to our physical drives, sexuality, and connection to the past. When a writer radically deviates from the norm in this zone, an analyst knows something significant is happening below the surface.

One of the most telling deviations is the "sickle-like stroke." Instead of a soft, rounded loop, the writer forms a sharp, weapon-shaped hook. During a masterclass, Baggett challenges his students to unpack the metaphor. The discussion reveals the stroke's name is key to its interpretation: a sickle is a farming tool, something productive and useful, but it is also a weapon. This origin story powerfully mirrors the psychological meaning. The stroke signifies deep-seated anger or resentment from the past, which manifests as "weaponizing something useful." For someone with this trait, a healthy drive like sexuality can be twisted from a source of connection into a tool for control or revenge. As one student powerfully interpreted it:

"I've kind of related that kind of why into someone that kind of uses sex or physical zones as a weapon... Weaponizing sex, basically."

An expert analyst looks at this single stroke and sees a form of "covert hostility." This is a person who might comply on the surface, but underneath they harbor a deep resentment that can emerge in unexpected and destructive ways.

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2. The 'Felon's Claw': Not a Criminal Mind, But a Guilty Conscience

Among the most notorious traits in graphology is the "Felon's Claw," a lower-zone stroke that hooks sharply back toward the left, representing the past. Its name, however, is a dangerous misnomer.

Baggett is quick to dismantle the myth that this stroke automatically signifies a criminal. While early research found it in a high percentage of prisoners, he believes it was a "poor choice of words" and has met many non-felons with the trait. Here, Baggett reveals how modern graphology moves beyond simplistic labels by applying critical thinking. He points out a massive confounding variable in the old prison studies: inmates are, by definition, sexually frustrated due to incarceration. The trait in prisoners could therefore be a result of their environment as much as a pre-existing criminal tendency.

The more nuanced, modern interpretation is that this stroke represents unresolved sexual frustration, confusion, or guilt. It is frequently tied to a strict religious upbringing—one of "hellfire and damnation" where religion is used "to control the body, control behavior"—or an internal moral conflict over one's own desires. Another expert, Ray Walker, even called it the "teenage Y," reinforcing its connection to the turmoil of navigating sexuality rather than inherent criminality. Baggett challenges the old interpretation directly:

"I thought, this can't be a felon's claw. It's not fair to use that term... it's got to be something to do with the resentment at past, unresolved resentment at childhood, and that also makes sense, because sometimes people with the worst past end up making really poor decisions."

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3. The 'Stinger': The Slot Machine Theory of Love and Relationships

Sometimes, the smallest mark reveals the most complex behaviors. The "Stinger" is a unique, beak-like hook that appears on the top of certain letters, looking like a wasp's stinger poised to strike. This trait signifies a deeply nuanced and often difficult attachment strategy, particularly related to anger and frustration with men.

Demonstrating the evolution of psychological understanding, Baggett contrasts the old-school interpretation with a more sophisticated modern model. His mentor, Ray Walker, offered a simplistic 1970s view: a woman with this trait is "hard to get, and she hates men." Baggett’s modern analysis provides far more depth with a powerful metaphor: "I Love You Like a Slot Machine." A person with this trait gets bored by partners who are predictable. If a partner is too available and consistently meets their needs (the slot machine always pays out), they lose interest. Conversely, if a partner is never available (it never pays out), they also get frustrated and leave. The person with a stinger is drawn to the unpredictable dopamine hit of a partner who is sometimes available and sometimes not, creating a volatile push-pull dynamic.

"If you're too available too consistently, they'll get bored."

This tiny stroke provides profound insight into why someone might struggle to maintain a stable partnership. For those seeking a partner, recognizing this trait could save them from what Baggett calls a "really bad relationship."

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4. Perfect Penmanship: The Surprising Sign of a Boring Personality

Here is one of the most counter-intuitive ideas in handwriting analysis: having perfect, "copybook-style" handwriting isn't necessarily a good thing. From a psychological perspective, flawless penmanship can be a red flag.

Perfect handwriting indicates conservatism—a personality that has followed the rules its whole life without developing its own unique flair. It suggests a person who has done exactly what they were told, never deviating from the path laid out for them. The unique slants, shapes, and strokes are where a person’s true defense mechanisms, strengths, and life experiences are revealed.

To make this abstract concept concrete, Baggett paints a vivid picture of two extremes. On one end, you have the person with rigid, perfect handwriting who is like a "robot" living a "very boring life." On the other, you have the "batshit crazy" nurse described by a student, whose handwriting breaks every rule, reflecting someone with absolutely no emotional control. A healthy, integrated personality lies somewhere in between. The most interesting psychological insights don't come from following the rules of penmanship, but from the unique ways we learn to break them.

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Conclusion: Your Handwriting Is Telling Your Story

From deep-seated anger to complex relationship patterns, our handwriting is filled with unconscious clues that tell the story of our psychological makeup. The pressure, slant, and shape of our letters offer a raw, unfiltered look at our resentments, desires, and the internal battles we fight every day. It is a record of our journey, written by a hand guided by forces we rarely acknowledge.

After learning about these hidden signs, what do you think your own handwriting says about you?