Characterology is a method of character reading that attempted to combine revised physiognomy

Physiognomy

Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...

, reconstructed phrenology

Phrenology

Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...

 and amplified pathognomy

Pathognomy

Pathognomy is the study of passions and emotions. It refers to the expression of emotions indicated by the voice, gestures and facial expression. While physiognomy is used to predict the overall, long-term character of an individual, pathognomy is used to ascertain clues about one's current character...

, with ethnology

Ethnology

Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...

, sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 and anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

. Developed by L. Hamilton McCormick

L. Hamilton McCormick

Leander Hamilton McCormick was an American author, inventor, art collector and sculptor.-Life:Hamilton McCormick was born in Chicago, May 27, 1859.His grandfather Robert McCormick of Virginia invented agricultural machinery....

 in the 1920s, characterology was an attempt to produce a scientific, objective system to assess an individual's character.

Characterology attempted to resolve flaws in the phrenological systems of Dr. Francis Joseph Gall

Franz Joseph Gall

Franz Joseph Gall was a neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain.- Life :...

and Johann Spurzheim

Johann Spurzheim

Johann Gaspar Spurzheim was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents of phrenology created approximately in 1800 by Franz Joseph Gall...

. McCormick tried to distance himself from those earlier systems, and wrote extensively about how his ideas improved upon them.

McCormick suggested possible applications for characterology, e.g., advice for parent

Parent

A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...

s and educators, guidance in military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 officer promotions, evaluating thinking patterns (i.e., reason

Reason

Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...

-oriented or memory

Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....

-oriented ), assessing business associates and competitors, career counseling, and selecting marital partners

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

.

Related disciplines

• Phrenology
  Phrenology
  Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
  
  
• Physiognomy
  Physiognomy
  Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
  
  
• Pathognomy
  Pathognomy
  Pathognomy is the study of passions and emotions. It refers to the expression of emotions indicated by the voice, gestures and facial expression. While physiognomy is used to predict the overall, long-term character of an individual, pathognomy is used to ascertain clues about one's current character...
  
  
• Personology
• Mirror imaging