What is DISC? Who Created the DISC Model?

DISC is the four quadrant behavioral model based on the work of William Moulton Marston Ph.D. (1893 - 1947) to examine the behavior of individuals in their environment or within a specific situation. DISC looks at behavioral styles and behavioral preferences. Marston, the father of the DISC, was a graduate of Harvard University. Among his contributions in his profession Marston was a consulting psychologist, researcher and author of five books, which he either wrote or co-authored. He was published in the American Journal of Psychology, The Encyclopedia of Psychology, and The Encyclopedia Britannica.

Ironically Marston is better known in many circles for his work in developing the lie detector. Another interesting factoid is that he also was the creator, writer and producer of “Wonder Woman,” introducing into comic strips the role model of a strong female.

Marston’s 1928 “Emotions of Normal People”, introduced DISC theory to the public. He defined four categories of human behavioral styles, types or temperament, now know as "D" for Dominance-Drive-Direct, "I" for Influence (Marston chose the term inducement, "S" for Steadiness or Stability (Marston used submission) and "C" for Compliant, Conscientious, or Cautious, (Marston used compliance). Interestingly enough Marston never developed his D.I.S.C. theory into the present four quadrant model, yet now a days DISC has become one of the most popular and user friendly four quadrant models for understanding behavioral styles and personality types, with various companies offering models with quadrants, circles, wheels, and diamonds to graphically represent the positioning of these behavioral and personality styles and types.

For just about 40 years DISC has continued to evolve. From Marston's original development of the D.I.S.C. model; to the research conducted by the University of Minnesota's Dr. John Geier's and his creation or the first DISC personality instrument offered through Performax Systems Int'l, which later becoming Carlson Learning Company, who offered the DiSC® Personal Profile System™ and is now Inscape Publishing with the latest incarnation of the original disc profile, called the DiSC Classic™ Profile the continuous development and validation of the DiSC profile remains foremost.

Again irony stalks Marston. For even though he developed the D.I.S.C. model and created the DISC test or assessment to prove his theory of the emotions of people within their environment, he never copyrighted his disc profile test. Yet, today, 75 years after the publication of his work, over 5 million people have taken various forms of the DISC profile internationally. Marston’s original contributions continue to be enhanced by ongoing behavioral research and validation in more than 50 languages and by numerous publishers of the profile, creating numerous versions of the DISC of various quantity and validity. There are numerous people and companies trying to capitalize on the DISC and Marston's original work. At times this pursuit has brought out the best in people, their personalities and behavioral styles and at other times it has brought out the worst in people's behavioral and personality, as they all try to benefit in one way or another from the DISC model and Marston's original work, clearly showing the emotions of "normal" people. Yet the importance and impact of his contribution in identifying a clear and easy to understand model of four distinctive behavioral types and the ability to reliably measurement the intensity of each style in order to explain “normal” human behavior has remained undiminished and continues to be used in corporations, educational institutions, government agencies, and religious institutions as a way to develop and improve the understand of ourselves and others, remaining key to productive interpersonal interactions.

John C Goodman, MSOD, MSW

President-Center for Internal Change, Inc.

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