Perspectives
It's Your Personality
Benefit Or
Burden?
by Mary Jo Huard
Perspectives
It's Your Personality
Benefit Or
Burden?
by Mary Jo Huard
The DiSC
Personality model is built on the idea that understanding yourself and others
is a key to success in today's highly complex world. Other than slight modifications in our
behavior as a result of significant life experiences, most of us carry much the
same behavior patterns throughout our lifetime.
This stability of our core pattern gives us a sense of identity. By helping us better
understand ourselves and others, the DiSC learning instrument can play a
central role in helping an organization develop a healthy, productive,
positive-thinking culture.
The DiSC model of human behavior was
presented in the 1920's by William Marston, a physiological psychologist, in
his book "Emotions of Normal People".
(Hippocrates created the first
four-factor theory of temperament in 400 B.C.). Marston's model is unique in that it is a
two-axis, four-factor model with Dominance
and Conscientiousness on one axis
and Influence and Steadiness on the other axis. It is assumed that most people show all four
of these dimensions at times; however, it is also assumed that an individual
develops a style of behavior that puts particular emphasis on certain aspects
and less on others.
Dr. John Geier and others modified Marston's model based
on the work in personality theory done in the 40's and 50's. Dr. Geier and Carlson Learning Company
published a unique forced-choice, self-reporting instrument in 1972 that was
self-administering, self-scoring, and self-interpreting. The DiSC model has two significant elements
(axis) that define a person's primary behavioral style:
1. One element describes the
perception a person has about the favorableness of her/his environment (work,
relationship, social).
2.
The
other element is how much power a person perceives him/herself to have within
an environment.
It is the combination of a person's perception of
favorableness and unfavorableness of the environment and the perception of his/her
personal power in
relation to the environment that determines a person's
behavioral style. The dynamic interaction of the two elements explains how an
individual may behave differently from one environment to another.
The difference in behavior represents a flexible or
adaptable response based on differences in a person's (1) perception of the
degree of favorableness of the environment and (2) perception of the degree of
his/her power in that environment. The
cumulative responses of an individual become characterized as a
"pattern" of behavior that remains relatively predictable, unless
there is a significant shift in either of these two perceptions of self.
Instrument
Construction
·
Empirical Validity:
The DiSC model has been compared to several accepted instruments and was
found to demonstrate construct validity (measures what it says that it
measures).
·
Face Validity:
Based on interview research, a typical respondent accepts as accurate
90-95% of their DiSC interpretation.
·
Reliability Analysis shows to what degree all of the
items within a scale contribute in a consistent manner to the total score of
the scale.
SUMMARY:
Each of us is a blend of all four behavioral dimensions. The frequency and intensity with which we use
certain behavioral dimensions develop a core pattern or core behavioral style
for each of us. People are effective if
they know their style and its strengths and limitations. They are successful if they can evaluate the
needs of others and adapt or adjust their style to meet those needs.
About the Author:
Mary Jo Huard has been a member of Dallas
ASTD for eight years. She is the President of Southwest
Training Institute, a training and facilitation company offering a variety of
programs and assessments that allow organizations to Train-To-Ingrain. Southwest Training Institute is a global
partner to companies, large and small, including many Fortune 100 companies.
The company is headquartered in