What is DISC?

By the 123test team. Updated September 2023

DISC is a quadrant behavioral model based on the work of Dr. William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) to examine the behavior of individuals in their environment or within a specific situation (otherwise known as environment). It therefore focuses on the styles and preferences of such behavior.

Dimensions

There are four main personality dimensions or traits within the DISC model. These dimensions are:

Dominance

Describes the way you deal with problems, assert yourself and control situations.

Influence

Describes the way you deal with people, the way you communicate and relate to others.

Steadiness

Describes your temperament - patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness

Compliance

Describes how you approach and organize your activity, procedures and responsibilities.

DISC Quadrant

DISC profiles

The DISC theory is often visualized as a quadrant where the top/bottom and left/right sides represent specific behavioral tendencies. People who score high on Dominance and Compliance tend to be more task-oriented where people scoring higher on Influence and Steadiness are more people-oriented.

Those scoring high on Dominance and Influence are generally more assertive and active, higher scores on Compliance and Steadiness give rise to calm and more cautious behavioral styles.

DISC Profiles

What's your personality?

Find out more about you and your strengths.

To the free DISC test

To help interpretation, communication and understanding, The DISC Typology experts have defined fifteen DISC Profiles or 'Classifications'.

Refer to the DISC Profiles article for a detailed description of the DISC Profiles. You can take a free DISC personality test here.