Is DiSC Validated for Race and Ethnicity?
DiSC Research: Race and Ethnicity
Ensuring that assessment products don’t introduce or include bias should concern anyone who uses or purchases them.
Fortunately, talent development professionals can feel confident about Everything DiSC because it is researched and validated for many demographic categories, including race and ethnicity.
Everything DiSC underwent an initial validation study that included 26,703 individual assessment responses.
While the assessment was being normed on a representative sample of U.S. adults, specific demographic sub-groups were studied to ensure that their scores met or exceeded the scores of the general population.
Everything DiSC researched the following demographic categories:
- Age
- Gender
- Race / Heritage
- Education
- Employment
Researchers first studied each demographic group to ensure that the assessment was reliable (it measured what it set out to measure regardless of demographic characteristics), that correlations amongst styles didn’t deviate, and if there was any variance amongst styles due to demographics.
Everything DiSC Reliability Scores
The Everything DiSC assessment was measured within each demographic category to ensure the tool was reliable for all DiSC Styles regardless of demographics.
The researchers sought to ensure that the tool would provide similar results over a period of time (test-retest) and to ensure that the questions measuring each scale are, in fact, actually measuring that scale.
Researchers used two tools to understand each variable: A statistical analysis called Cronbach’s Alpha was used to ensure the questions measuring each scale were consistent.
They also used a statistical tool called Reliability Coefficient to understand how closely aligned a person’s scores would be during the first time they took the assessment and the second time they took it.
For test-retest reliability and Cronbach’s Alpha, researchers sought to ensure that each scale met or exceeded a .7 coefficient. Generally, the higher the rating, the more reliable the assessment. Researchers found that each demographic group met or exceeded the .7 goal.
Highlights of the reliability report are available here →
Everything DiSC Validity Scores
Measuring the validity of an assessment requires showing that the assessment or test actually measures what it sets out to measure.
Everything DiSC uses a few different studies to showcase that the assessment is valid and that demographics don’t affect the validity of the assessment. To showcase the general validity of the assessment, Everything DiSC employed a few different studies:
- Construct validity
- Scale intercorrelations
- Multidimensional scaling (MDS)
- Factor Analysis of the DiSC Model Circumplex
- Correlations with Other Assessments of Personality
To understand if the research showed any effects of validity based on demographics, we will focus only on the Scale Intercorrelations.
Studying scale intercorrelations is an ingenious way to understand the validity of a test because it’s simple. The study looks at adjacent scales and looks to see if there is a strong correlation. This is a crucial aspect of the DiSC Model. For example, someone who receives a Di style should also strongly correlate with the i-Personality Type scale.
Alternatively, opposing scales (D and S or i and C scales) should have low correlations regardless of demographics. Below, you can see how this looks mathematically. Looking at the first column, you will see someone who receives the D Personality Type has the lowest correlation with the S Personality Type (the number is -.69):
This same process was repeated for different racial demographics, including:
- Asian
- African-American
- Caucasian
- Hispanic
- Native American
The full research report for each demographic is available in the Everything DiSC Manual. Hopefully, this article showcases how much time is spent ensuring that this tool provides an equal representation for everyone who uses it, regardless of their race and ethnicity.
