DISC assessment is a behaviour assessment tool based on the DISC theory of psychologist William Marston. Marston's theory centers on four different personality traits: Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. This theory was then developed into a personality assessment tool (personality profile test) by industrial psychologist Walter Vernon Clarke (July 26, 1905 - Jan. 1, 1978).

There are many different versions of the test; the most prominent is probably DiSC (distinguishing itself with a lowercase "i") marketed by Inscape Publishing. Other DISC tests are marketed by The Institute of Motivational Living, PeopleKeys and Axiom Software. Because the versions of the assessment do vary, practitioners are cautioned to ask for evidence for the validity of a prospective version before using.

History

William Moulton Marston was an accomplished man who was not only a lawyer and a physiological psychologist; he also produced the first functional lie detector polygraph, authored self-help books and created the Wonder Woman comic. His major contribution to psychology came when he generated the DISC characteristics of emotions and behavior of normal people. Marston, after conducting research on human emotions, published his findings in 1928 in his book titled Emotions of Normal People. In this book, he explained his theory that people illustrate their emotions through behavior using the four behavior types called Dominance (D), Inducement (I), Submission (S), and Compliance (C). Also, he argued that these behavioral types came from people’s sense of self and their interaction with the environment.^[1] He included two dimensions that influenced people’s emotional behavior. The first dimension is whether a person views his environment as favorable or unfavorable. The second dimension is whether a person perceives himself as having control or lack of control over his environment. Dominance: Perceives oneself as more powerful than the environment, and perceives the environment as unfavorable. Inducement: Perceives oneself as more powerful than the environment, and perceives the environment as favorable. Submission: Perceives oneself as less powerful than the environment, and perceives the environment as favorable. Compliance: Perceives oneself as less powerful than the environment, and perceives the environment as unfavorable.^[1] Although William Moulton Marston contributed to the creation of the DISC Assessment, he did not create it or even intend to use DISC as an assessment. In 1956, Walter Clarke, an industrial psychologist, was able to accidentally construct the DISC assessment using William Moulton Marston’s theory of the DISC model. He accomplished this by publishing the Activity Vector Analysis, a checklist of adjectives on which he asked people to indicate descriptions that were accurate about themselves. This assessment was intended for use in businesses needing assistance in choosing qualified employees. His assessment was later amended by Walter Clarke Associates and called a self-description. Also, it no longer required a checklist. Instead, test takers chose from two or more terms. Even with all of William Moulton Marston's and Walter Clarke's developments, the DISC assessment still had further developments to undertake. John Greier contributed to this assessment by producing the DISC personality profile in 1958 based on the works of Marston and Clarke. Greier conducted hundreds of clinical interviews which assisted him to further progress the fifteen patterns which Walter Clarke had exposed. Since then a number of publishers have updated and/or generated their own versions of the DISC assessment. These have had varying degrees of validity and reliability.

Use of DISC Assessment

The DISC assessment can be used for a variety of real-life situations. Many companies use it as a way to screen potential employees, with the thought that a certain personality type would be better or worse in certain jobs or positions.^[2]

It can also be used in an educational environment, especially in the development of courses for students. In an online setting, the results from the DISC assessment can be used to better understand the personality and needs of the students. This is especially important because the online setting does not allow for a lot of interaction between the students or teachers. Instructors can use the data from the test to create better lessons that are more conducive to the various students, in addition to having a better concept of how to help or motivate the student in general.^[3] Furthermore, one study showed that students' DISC temperament or type helped determine their success in certain classes, which shows the influence one's DISC classification could have on his or her education.^[4]

Another field in which DISC assessment can be used is leadership. There are different leadership methods and styles that coincide with each personality type, which could help leaders be more effective. DISC has also been used to help determine a course of action when dealing with problems as a leadership team—that is, taking the various aspects of each type into account when solving problems or assigning jobs.^[5][6]

Dimensions of DISC

The assessments classify four aspects of behavior by testing a person's preferences in word associations. DISC is an acronym for:

• Dominance – relating to control, power and assertiveness^[1]

(Note: Sometimes the word Drive is used in place of Dominance)

• Inducement – relating to social situations and communication^[1]

(Note: Sometimes the word Influence is used in place of Inducement)

• Submission – relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness^[1]

(Note: Sometimes the word Steadiness is used in place of Submission)

• Compliance – relating to structure and organization^[1]

(Note: Sometimes the words Caution or Conscientiousness are used in place of Compliance)

These four dimensions can be grouped in a grid with "D" and "I" sharing the top row and representing extroverted aspects of the personality, and "C" and "S" below representing introverted aspects. "D" and "C" then share the left column and represent task-focused aspects, and "I" and "S" share the right column and represent social aspects. In this matrix, the vertical dimension represents a factor of "Assertive" or "Passive", while the horizontal dimension represents "Open" vs. "Guarded".

• Drive: People who score high in the intensity of the "D" styles factor are very active in dealing with problems and challenges, while low "D" scores are people who want to do more research before committing to a decision. High "D" people are described as demanding, forceful, egocentric, strong willed, driving, determined, ambitious, aggressive, and pioneering. Low D scores describe those who are conservative, low keyed, cooperative, calculating, undemanding, cautious, mild, agreeable, modest and peaceful.
• Influence: People with high "I" scores influence others through talking and activity and tend to be emotional. They are described as convincing, magnetic, political, enthusiastic, persuasive, warm, demonstrative, trusting, and optimistic. Those with low "I" scores influence more by data and facts, and not with feelings. They are described as reflective, factual, calculating, skeptical, logical, suspicious, matter of fact, pessimistic, and critical.
• Steadiness: People with high "S" styles scores want a steady pace, security, and do not like sudden change. High "S" individuals are calm, relaxed, patient, possessive, predictable, deliberate, stable, consistent, and tend to be unemotional and poker faced. Low "S" intensity scores are those who like change and variety. People with low "S" scores are described as restless, demonstrative, impatient, eager, or even impulsive.
• Compliance:^[7] People with high "C" styles adhere to rules, regulations, and structure. They like to do quality work and do it right the first time. High "C" people are careful, cautious, exacting, neat, systematic, diplomatic, accurate, and tactful. Those with low "C" scores challenge the rules and want independence and are described as self-willed, stubborn, opinionated, unsystematic, arbitrary, and unconcerned with details.

Patterns

The DISC assessment tool is used to identify 15 patterns:

• Achiever
• Agent
• Appraiser
• Counselor
• Creative
• Developer
• Inspirational
• Investigator
• Objective Thinker
• Perfectionist
• Persuader
• Practitioner
• Promoter
• Result oriented
• Specialist

See also

• Psychometrics
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
• Keirsey Temperament Sorter
• Personality psychology
• Psychology
• Learning styles
• Hartman Personality Profile

Notes

References

• Duck, J. (2006). Making the connection: Improving virtual team performance through behavioral assessment profiling and behavioral cues. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 33, 358-9. Retrieved from http://sbaweb.wayne.edu/~absel/bkl/.\vol33\33cb.pdf