GROUP 1 / 120 of 12 done
At work, I am…
Pick the word most like youMOSTLEAST
DirectLivelyPatientPrecise
YOUR WORDS SO FARClick a word to revisit its group
Nothing yet
Nothing yet
What DISC is, in short
DISC describes behaviour at work on two dimensions: whether you're faster-paced and outspoken or steadier and reserved, and whether you focus more on tasks or on people. The combinations give four styles: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness.
Most people show some of all four, with one or two strongest. DISC is mainly used in team workshops and coaching to talk about working differences. This test uses our own word groups and isn't any commercial DISC assessment.
By What's Your IQ · Reviewed 4 Oct 2026- Format
- 12 groups of 4 words; pick most and least like you
- Result
- Scores −12 to +12 per style, position on the DISC map
- Origin
- William Moulton Marston, Emotions of Normal People (1928)
- Best used for
- Team conversations and communication; not hiring decisions
THE PRACTICAL PART
How to work with a high-Dominance colleague
D
THEY WANTResults, control over how they get there, and quick decisions.
UNDER PRESSUREGets impatient and blunt, and may push ahead without bringing others along.
TRY SAYING“Here are two options and my recommendation. Which do you want?”
INSTEAD OF“Before we start, let me walk you through some background…”
1928Marston described the four stylesThe same psychologist worked on an early blood-pressure lie detector and, writing as Charles Moulton, created Wonder Woman.1,2
1928A theory of emotion. Marston named Dominance, Inducement, Submission and Compliance as ways people respond to their surroundings. He never built a test himself.1
1950sInto the workplace. Industrial psychologists turned the model into adjective checklists for employers, the format still used today, with friendlier labels.
TodayWidely used, lightly studied. DISC is common in corporate training, but most validation work comes from test publishers rather than independent peer-reviewed research.
Big Five linkFamiliar traits underneath. The two DISC axes resemble extraversion (pace) and agreeableness (task vs people), and C sits close to conscientiousness.
- Marston, W. M. (1928). Emotions of normal people. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
- Lepore, J. (2014). The secret history of Wonder Woman. Knopf.