William Moulton Marston

The DiSC Model was created over 75 years ago by William Moulton Marston, a physiological psychologist.  His deep understanding of the interaction between individuals and their environment resulting in four well-known behavioral types (Dominance (D), Inducement (I), Submission (S), and Compliance (C)), defined a breakthrough model of human behavior that remains just as valid today as it was in 1928.

The DiSC Model of Behavior was first proposed by Marston in his book Emotions of Normal People.  Like many psychologists of his time, Marston made a deliberate decision to focus only on psychological phenomena that were directly observable and measurable through objective means.  His primary interest was in theories of emotions and the physical manifestations of emotional states. 

From his careful research, Marston theorized that the behavioral expression of emotions could be categorized into four primary types, stemming from the person's perceptions of self in relationship to his or her environment.  Marston labeled the four types: Dominance (D), Inducement (I), Submission (S), and Compliance (C).  He created a model that integrated these four types of emotional expression into a two-dimensional, two-axis space.

The first dimension was the person's perception of the environment; specifically, whether it was perceived as favorable or unfavorable.  The second dimension was the person's perception of their own power within the environment; specifically, whether they viewed themselves as more powerful or less powerful than the environment. 

Combined into one model, these two dimensions eventually led to the four DiSC behavioral styles, as seen in the model found in the DiSC Classic Profile from Inscape Publishing Dominance (D), influence (i), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C).