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DiSC Profile Research

DiSC products by Inscape are based on the work of William Moulton Marston, PH.D, as published in his 1928 book The Emotions of Normal People.  Marston set out to learn if there were systematic ways in which people responded to their environment.  He was interested not only in how people behaved, but in how their behavior changed from situation to situation.  Through his research, he hoped to increase people's understanding of themselves and others while decreasing misunderstandings.  He found that two kinds of perception are particularly useful for explaining people's response in a particular situation;  perception of environment and perception of one's self.  As Marston observed, these two kinds of perception interact to describe an individual's response to a situation.

Dominance:  When the environment is perceived as unfavorable and the person feels more powerful than the environment, he or she responds with Dominance.  This person will likely try to change, fix, or control the situation.

Influence:  When the environment is perceived as favorable and the person feels more powerful than the environment, he or she experiences a desire to Influence.  This person will likely try to bring others around to his or her point of view.

Steadiness:  When the environment is perceived as favorable and the person feels less powerful than the environment, he or she experiences the opportunity to be steady and supportive of others.  This person will likely try to keep the situation as it is and support those in need.

Conscientiousness:  When the environment is perceived as unfavorable and the person feels less powerful than the environment, he or she responds with Conscientiousness.  The person will likely set clear rules within the situation and work very hard to follow them.

You can choose from the most requested versions of DiSC profiles, depending on your objectives.  To view them, print samples and order them, catch the following links.

DiSC Classic Paper Profile

DiSC Classic 2.0 online version

DiSC Classic 2 PLUS

DiSC PPSS General Characteristics Software Report.

We're happy to answer questions and provide support.  Call us at 517-324-9937

The DiSC Behavioral Model - The Legacy of William Moulton Marston

The DiSC Profile is based on the 1928 work of William Moulton Marston.  The four quadrant DiSC Behavioral Model describes and measures traits, temperaments and preferred or behavioral tendencies.

Dominance	Influence
Conscientiousness	Steadiness

How does your DiSC style differ from the other DiSC styles?  What do you have in common with the other DiSC styles?  The DiSC model explained here will help you understand these important questions.  In the graphic below, each DiSC style has something in common with the styles that are next to it. 

What do the D & i Styles share in common?
You can see that the the D and i styles tend to perceive themselves as more powerful than their environment.  They may be more assertive because they feel they have more control over their surroundings.   

What do the S & C styles share in common?
The C and S styles tend to perceive themselves as less powerful than their environment. Thus, they may be more inclined to adapt to their surroundings because they feel that they have little direct control over them.

D & i Perceive Self as MORE POWERFUL than the Environment
D & C Perceive the Environment as: UNFAVORABLE	D i C S	i & S Perceive the Environment as: FAVORABLE
S & C Perceive Self as LESS POWERFUL than the Environment

The illustration below elaborates a bit more by describing the four styles in a way that is more observable and behavioral.  You will notice that while the D and i styles tend to be more active and fast paced, the S & C styles tend to be thoughtful and moderately paced. 

The D and C styles sees the environment as UNFAVORABLE (or unfriendly). They tend to be questioning and logic focused, whereas the the i and S styles perceive the environment to be FAVORABLE (or friendly), they tend to be more accepting and people focused.

Active, Fast Paced, Assertive, Bold
Questioning Logic Focused Skeptical Challenging	D i C S	Accepting People Focused Receptive Agreeable
Thoughtful, Moderate Paced, Calm, Careful

"Seek first to understand - then to be understood."

Always look for the DiSC with the "small i" - an Inscape Trademark.

You too can become a DiSC Trainer.  Ask for DiSC Trainer Certification by Inscape.

Questions:  Call us at 517.324.9937

DiSC Theory and Research

Why should you trust what the DiSC Assessment is telling you?  Here's a brief background on the research behind the Original DiSC Profile.

Inscape Publishing's DiSC products began with a theory based on the work of William Moulton Marston, a Harvard psychologist, and a contemporary of Carl Jung.   The essence of his work is found in his book: "The Emotions of Normal People," published in 1928.

While all of his contemporaries studied abnormal behavior, or pathology, Marston was interested not in mental illness, but in how normal people felt and behaved as they interacted with others and the world around them - their environment.  Through his research, he hoped to increase people's understanding of themselves and others while decreasing misunderstandings.  He found that two kinds of perceptions are particularly useful for explaining people's response in a particular situation:  perception of environment and perception of one's self.  Marston observed that these two kinds of perceptions interact to describe an individual's response to a situation.

Dominance:  When the environment is perceived as unfavorable and the person feels more powerful than the environment, he or she experiences a Dominant response.  This person will likely try to direct, change, fix, or control the situation.

Influence:  When the environment is perceived as favorable and the person feels more powerful than the environment he or she experiences a desire to Influence.  This person will likely try to bring others around to his or her point of view.  To influence or persuade.

Steadiness:  When the environment is perceived as favorable and the person feels less powerful than the environment, he or she experiences an opportunity to support and help others.  This person will likely try to keep the situation stable and support those in need.

Conscientiousness:  When the environment is perceived as unfavorable and the person feels less powerful than the environment, he or she responds with Conscientiousness.  This person will likely set clear rules within the situation and work very hard to follow them.

While Marston created the DiSC Model, he never developed and instrument by which to measure it. The original DiSC Profile based on the work of Marston was developed by John Geier of Performax Systems International.  For more than thirty years Inscape and its predecessors have researched and refined the original DiSC theory to maximize its impact and accuracy. 

Marston is also the inventor of the polygraph test, and Wonder Women comic strip.

Validity and Reliability:

In order for an instrument like DiSC to provide useful feedback, it must measure what it claims to measure (validity) and it must do so consistently (reliability).

When research specialists assess how good an instrument is, they first consider the sample population.  Inscape Publishing makes sure that our research samples are representative of people of different ages and racial backgrounds and from a wide variety of occupations and geographical locations.

Instruments also have to be reliable, which means the results are consistent.  Professional-quality instruments offer "scale reliability" greater than .70.  The numbers for Inscape's DiSC range from .77 to .85.

A high-quality behavioral instrument also offers validity, in other words, it measures what it is said to measure.   The validity of Inscape's DiSC scales has been confirmed by two types of statistical analyses, one called factor analysis and the other called multidimensional scaling.

Inscape DiSC Classic Research & Validation Report

More research information can be found in the Everything DiSC Facilitator Kit.

Questions?  Call us at 517-324-9937

DiSC Profile - Historical Perspective

Behavioral Styles from a Historical Perspective

The Ancient Greeks came up with the concept of the four temperaments.  Hippocrates  said, your style is determined by your body fluids:  Yellow Bile, Blood, Phlegm, and Black Bile.  This theory is remarkably similar to our DiSC Model used today.  The four temperaments which you occasionally see used today are:

• Choleric - Yellow Bile, corresponds to D
• Sanguine - Blood, corresponds to i
• Phlegmatic - Phlegm, corresponds to S
• Melancholic - Black Bile, corresponds to C

The 20th Century saw the beginnings of the formal study of Psychology.  In 1923, a landmark work was published:  Psychological Types, by Carl Jung.  Jung gave us the terms Introvert and Extrovert, and he identified the four types as Sensing, Intuitive, Feeling and Thinking; which correspond to the four factors in the DiSC Model: D, i, S, C respectively.

Today studies of differences in people are abundant.  In all theories, there seems to be one common thread - one factor - that even reinforces the more primitive studies.  That is that behavior is observable, and it forms patterns.  The four major patterns of behavior were identified by Dr. William Moulton Marston, in his book "The Emotions of Normal People," published in 1923. 

• Dominance   
• Influence
• Steadiness
• Conscientiousness.

Today, the most thoroughly developed, valid and reliable behavioral instrument for measuring behavioral styles is the DiSC Personal Profile, now known as DiSC Classic by Inscape Publishing. 

Always look for the "Original DiSC Profile" - the one with the small "i" - a trademark of Inscape Publishing.

More about DiSC Classic Paper and Online Profiles

View DiSC Classic 2.0 Online

View DiSC Classic 2 PLUS Online

View DiSC Facilitator Group Report

View DiSC Group Culture Report

View DiSC Classic Research and Validation Report