DISC Assessment

6 min

Each of the 24 questions describes an everyday situation and offers four ways to react. Choose the reaction that sounds like you, even when two of them seem close. The test takes about 6 minutes, and at the end you see your DISC type: D, I, S or C.

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How the test works

You are at the dock for the morning ferry to an island day trip when the crew announces that it is canceled. What do you do first? I switch the trip to a different island on the spot. I move the day to the afternoon sailing. I read the notice posted at the ticket window. I wave over other passengers with a plan to share a water taxi.

At a flea market, the seller tells you the camera in your hands once belonged to a famous photographer. How do you respond? I take the seller's story at face value. I ask to see papers for the claim. I ask the seller about the camera's travels, hoping for a good tale. I tell the seller what does not add up in the story.

It is the first session of a pottery class, and you know nobody in the room. What do you do as people arrive? I size up the room from the doorway. I start a conversation at the first wheel I reach. I propose a round of names and reasons for being there. I take a stool by the wall and chat with whoever sits near.

You and a few people from a bus tour are hungry and have no signal. Two restaurants across the street have no reviews in sight. How do you choose? I go with the place whose music and chatter sound fun. I choose the nearer door and live with whatever is inside. I pick the place that suits the tour group. I study the menus in the windows until one checks out.

A stranger posts on the community garden forum that your tomato bed shades their plot. How do you react? I write back that the tomato bed stays where it is. I watch the shadow of the bed move across their plot at noon. I offer the plot's owner seedlings in my reply. I am unbothered and go back to watering.

Traffic on your road to the lake has stopped, and nobody says why. What do you do? I walk to the front of the line to look at the holdup. I get the drivers around me trading ideas for side roads. With the engine off and the window down, I wait it out. I start clearing whatever is in the way.

At a block party, neighbors with different opinions are arguing about closing the street next summer. Where do you place yourself in the talk? I invite the quieter people on the sidewalk to weigh in. I listen to the opposing sides to find an overlap. I call for a vote on my position. I speak up with figures from the city's notice.

You bring home an espresso machine with controls you have never seen before. How do you learn to use it? I go through the booklet one page at a time. I start pressing buttons in the order they catch my eye. I study the manual for the settings and limits. I get a neighbor to figure it out over coffee.

A museum asks visitors to leave small bags in lockers, and yours holds nothing but a sweater. How do you handle the rule? I keep the bag with me, since it holds a sweater. I talk the attendant into letting a small bag through. I read the sign through for the size limit on bags. I check the bag, glad to keep the line moving.

An outfitter phones to say a cancellation opened a spot on a week-long river trip that leaves in two days. What is your first response? I text the news to my contacts. I read the cancellation terms and the river's difficulty rating. I leave the offer open until I know it fits. I take the spot on the phone.

A neighbor who just built a new backyard shed asks what you think of it. How do you answer? I give my view on the roof line and the door placement. I begin with what they obviously put effort into. I tell them it belongs on the other side of the yard. I tell stories about sheds I have seen around town.

At a community potluck, the person running the grill burns a whole tray of skewers while everybody watches. What do you do? I help clear the burnt tray off the grill. I call out, "Turn the heat down." I give the crowd something upbeat to talk about. I inspect the flame setting and the rack height.

Your Sunday afternoon has nothing scheduled. What do you want from the hours? I set myself a challenge for the afternoon. I settle into the armchair by the window. Downtown is where I head, to find some company. I give the afternoon to assembling a model kit.

A neighbor promised to return your ladder on Saturday. It is Sunday, and the ladder is still gone. How do you react? I drop the subject of the ladder. I mention the missing ladder in passing. I repeat the terms we set: the ladder, back on Saturday. I ask for the ladder back at their door.

The library you use is replacing its paper cards with an app. Where do you stand on the switch? I download the app to try it out. I compare the app's privacy policy and lending rules with the card's. I suggest the librarians go paperless. I stay with the paper card I know.

A stranger on the next seat at a bus stop looks visibly upset after a phone call. What do you do? I ask them, "What happened?" I start sorting out whatever caused it. I take the next seat and hear them out. I change the subject to something brighter.

Two groups hold reservations for the same picnic shelter, and neither will give way. How do you handle the standoff? I call for a coin toss to end it. I lay out the reservation slips and the posted options. I wait out the standoff on a nearby bench. I offer the groups a cheerful way to share, drawing a laugh.

At a neighborhood event, the organizer thanks you by name in front of everyone for fixing the sound system. How do you take it? I describe the part I repaired and its fault. I credit the volunteers who held the cables for me. I thank the crowd from the stage. I say the praise is earned and name the next job to tackle.

You are putting together a neighborhood garage sale with many moving parts. How do you plan it? I set out the tasks in a plain order for others to follow. I paint the day in broad strokes to sign up helpers. I pick the date and the target; the rest gets sorted on the way. I write out the steps, with a fallback plan for rain.

You asked the parks office for permission to run a small stand at the weekend market, and the answer is no. What do you do? I rework my pitch in a way they warm to. I take the request to the market board instead. I read the parks office's rules on market stands. I take the parks office's no as final.

Your flight is delayed by four hours, and nothing can speed it up. How do you spend the wait? I ask the gate desk for an earlier flight. Stories swapped with strangers around the gate area. In a chair by the window, I let the hours go by. I am glad of the time to double-check my hotel booking.

A hiking club votes to take the longer trail, even though you preferred the short one. What do you do? I make my case to people one by one at the trailhead. I shoulder my pack for the longer trail. I list my concerns about the longer route in a message. I ask the club to vote again.

You have just finished building a bookshelf. What tells you it is done well? I make sure it stays put for whoever reaches for it. I run a level and tape measure over the joints. I load it with the books I built it for. I go by the reaction of the visitors who come over.

A new neighbor asks how recycling pickup works in your building. How do you explain it? I take the rules step by step, with exact terms. I give the rules in two sentences. I add stories about past recycling mishaps to keep it fun. I go over it again at their pace.

Keys 1–4 pick an answer

About the test

Methodology

The test has 24 questions. Each one describes an everyday situation and lists four reactions, one for each of the letters D, I, S and C. A chosen reaction adds a point to its letter, and the letter picked ahead of the other three gives the result. A tie goes to the first letter in the order D, C, I, S. The result relies on a person's own answers about themselves.

The letters are areas on a map drawn by two questions about a situation. Does it feel like something to push against or something to work with? And does the person move forward or hold back? D combines pushing against with moving forward, C pushing against with holding back, I working with and moving forward, and S working with and holding back. The words behind the letters are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness.

The model goes back to William Marston (1928), and the current names of the four types appeared later. A general overview is available in the DISC assessment article on Wikipedia.

Author: Lex Tarrel, Creator of the CoreTypes system

Sources

Marston, W. M. (1928). Emotions of normal people. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
Merenda, P. F., & Clarke, W. V. (1965). Self description and personality measurement. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(1), 52–56. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(196501)21:1<52::AID-JCLP2270210115>3.0.CO;2-K
Jones, C. S., & Hartley, N. T. (2013). Comparing correlations between four-quadrant and five-factor personality assessments. American Journal of Business Education, 6(4), 459–470. doi:10.19030/ajbe.v6i4.7945
Meade, A. W. (2004). Psychometric problems and issues involved with creating and using ipsative measures for selection. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(4), 531–551. doi:10.1348/0963179042596504

Frequently asked questions

What does DISC stand for?

The model goes back to William Marston, who described it in 1928, and its current names appeared later. It has been a vocabulary for behavior styles ever since. The name DISC comes from four letters: D for Dominance, I for Influence, S for Steadiness and C for Conscientiousness. Each letter stands for a recognizable way of acting, from taking over a stalled plan to hearing everyone out before replying.

How accurate is the DISC assessment?

The test shows which of the four styles a person picks more often than the others across twenty-four everyday situations. Every question offers one reaction per style, so each answer is a real choice between four ways of acting. The result reads as a description of habitual reactions, and recalling how a recent situation actually went shows how well it fits.

Can a person be more than one DISC type?

Features of every style show up in everyone's behavior. The test names the one style that the answers point to more often than the others, and that style is the result. The description of that type reads as a portrait of the leading habit, with room for the other three alongside it.

Is the DISC assessment meant for hiring?

This test was written for self-knowledge. Its situations come from daily life, and the result reads as a description of one's own style in everyday choices.

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