What Is DISC

'DISC' is a behavioural profiling system widely used in recruitment.

Based on your answers to a simple questionnaire, it builds a description of your typical behaviors and uses that description to provide an insight into your likely motivations, and your approach to life and work.

 


William Marston and DISC Theory

· Marston theorized that human behavior could be studied using a two-axis model based on a person’s action in a favorable or an unfavorable environment.

· Marston provided observational methods to demonstrate how four primary emotions are related to a logical analysis of neurological results.

· He introduced a hypothetical construct and provided meaningful terminology to describe the four primary emotions.

· He clustered traits for each of the four emotions.

*John G. Geier’s introduction to the 1979 edition of
“Emotions of Normal People”

 

 

William Moulton Marston (1893 - 1947), received his Ph.D. from Harvard and spent most of his adult life as a teaching and consulting psychologist. A prolific writer, Marston was a contributor to the American Journal of Psychology, The Encyclopedia Britannica, The Encyclopedia of Psychology, in addition to authoring and co-authoring five books.

Marston is best known for his success with the lie detector. In his book, “The Lie Detector”, published in 1938, he documented the theory and use of the tool. Today, lie detectors are used worldwide by law enforcement officials.

Most people are unaware this eminent psychologist was the originator, writer and producer of “Wonder Woman”. This comic strip provided a strong female role model and with the “Lasso of Truth”, villains were compelled to tell the truth.

In 1928 he published, “Emotions of Normal People”, in which he described the DISC theory we still use today in behavioral research. Marston described four categories of human response. Dominance, the drive to overcome opposing forces perceived inferior to the strength of self; Influence (Marston used the term inducement), the attempt to ally forces to ourselves through persuasive means; Steadiness (Marston used the term submission), the acquiescence of the self to a perceived allied force; and Compliance, the subordination of the self to a hostile force of superior strength.

Today, 75 years after its publication, Marston’s work has been enhanced by continuous behavioral research. The importance of his contribution in identifying four distinct categories and the measurement of the strength of this response in the explanation of human behavior has remained undiminished.