Frequently Asked Questions

The name DISC is an acronym standing for the four personality styles that compose the DISC Personality System. Everyone’s personality is composed out of some combination of these four styles:

D = Dominance

I = Influence

S = Steadiness

C = Compliance

The DISC profile is highly valid. Validity indicates whether the test measures precisely what it is supposed to measure. Reliability means whether it measures it consistently. Reliability in the DISC test is much more challenging to measure since personality changes over time and differs from one environment to another. However, the results are consistent when taken within the same period and when focusing on the same environment.

View PeopleKeys’ Validation Studies

The DISC Personality Assessment itself is culturally consistent, as the basic elements of personality are present in all cultures. However, the way these elements are viewed may be different from culture to culture. For example, Dominance may be revered in one culture but looked down upon in another. However, the presence of Dominance in a personality is still present and measured by the DISC assessment. Overall, the DISC assessment and report are culturally consistent and compatible.

One’s DISC style will likely change in three ways:

• Environment – When you think about your personality style in different situations, it probably differs in some ways from when you’re at work to when you’re at home or out with friends. This is true of most people. It’s important when taking a DISC test to think about a specific environment when answering the questions, instead of answering them in a more generalized way. This is the best way to see the differences in your style between environments.
• Stress – When assessed during times of stress or when you are uncomfortable in a particular environment, your DISC style results will reflect that stress and uncertainty. This can cause unique patterns in the graphs, such as overshifts or undershifts. When assessed again at a less stressful time in that environment, your graphs are likely to change.
• Time – It’s not uncommon for one’s personality style to change over time, as we learn, grow, change and increase our behavioral intelligence and self-awareness. If you take a DISC personality assessment periodically, you may notice differences in your style over time and in different environments.

The DISC instrument and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) are highly recognized assessment tools to predict human behavior, personality, and temperament and enhance communication. Both instruments are widely used today in organizations around the world.

Probably the most critical point to keep in mind is that these two instruments are not mutually exclusive. Organizations or individuals can use these assessments in tandem for an in-depth and multi-faceted glimpse at human behavior. Both psychometric tools are highly validated. For many years, MBTI was the standard in psychometric testing. However, over the years, the DISC psychometric test has grown in popularity, especially for business application, for a few reasons:

• The MBTI takes about 30 minutes to complete and contains approximately 90 questions. The DISC assessment test can be completed in half the time, approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and includes only 24 questions.
• DISC is less complicated than MBTI, which makes it easier to remember, understand and apply. People often remember at least their primary DISC style of D, I, S, or C, even years later, while it’s less likely to remember your MBTI combination after much time has passed.
• One can become trained and certified in DISC theory and application in less time.
  You could take a DISC assessment online and read the comprehensive report on your style with no training and still gain an in-depth understanding of your personality style, communication style, and predictable behaviors. The MBTI would be more challenging to understand without some training or guidance.
• DISC is easy to apply in day-to-day scenarios at the workplace or home and with colleagues, friends, and families. Others’ styles are more straightforward to predict with DISC than MBTI, allowing you to adjust your style to create better communication with those around you.
• DISC is simpler for young people (8+) to understand and apply with family and friends.
• DISC focuses less on theory than MBTI and focuses more on practical application.
• MBTI focuses on behavioral dichotomies that illuminate the ways we think internally.
• DISC focuses on predictable behaviors (why we do what we do, act the way we act, and react the way we react).

In the end, preference is up to the user. What traits are they trying to gauge? Do they have time for training or have someone who can explain the test? Do they need something more straightforward? How much time do they have to take the assessment and go through the results? What is the application? These questions will often guide you either towards the MBTI or the DISC personality test as your psychometric test tool.

Absolutely! Our company has been providing assessments for over 35 years. We’ve handled over 3,000,000 domestic DISC behavioral assessments and over 10,000 international clients’ assessments. We have never been sued or faced any sort of litigation regarding the use of our products or systems. Neither have any of our clients. Professionally, productively, and legally speaking, PeopleKeys has 100% certainty that we can place your company in a better hiring position than without the use of our assessments.

Any theoretical risk of legal problems would typically stem from inconsistencies in corporate hiring practices. For example, only asking a select few applicants to take a personality assessment while leaving others out could be considered discriminatory. Asking questions that don’t align with requirements for the position could also be legally problematic. However, PeopleKeys benchmarking and hiring tools are designed to target job-specific strengths and can be easily, cost-effectively administered to all applicants, giving you a consistent, equitable, and accurate method for identifying the best candidates. PeopleKeys also uses three different ways of analyzing candidates, ensuring the position you’re hiring for is viewed through a multi-dimensional filter.

PeopleKeys created its hiring tools with legal safeguards in mind. Using PeopleKeys’ DISC personality assessments in the hiring process is good practice and legal and within your rights. As long as the assessments are applied consistently and fairly, using appropriately tailored questions to the position, your hiring practices are safe.

Although it’s unusual for a person’s core DISC personality type to change over time, behavior is more fluid. People often alter their outward DISC or communication style over time through learning, experience, and adapting to different situations. The most significant change typically occurs in the first DISC graph because this measures our style’s external expression.

The degree to which a person’s style may change over time is related to how they deal with daily pressures and their willingness to grow and adapt. By way of example, PeopleKeys works with several job boards. One such board asks each candidate to retake their DISC assessment after 1 – 2 years so that the job match will be more accurate.

Another client who comes to mind likes to re-assess their new hires after two years. They are in the Social Service industry, where typically, many applicants have S and I styles. (The Social Service industry is a very relational field, and the S and I are drawn to these types of jobs.) The interesting thing is that this industry’s jobs require much attention to details, paperwork, and follow-up (all C-style traits). This client has found that the most successful employees increase their C-style traits over time while still retaining their original S or I styles above the midline. Successful adaptation to the position over time can only be measured using multiple assessing instruments.

Your DISC graph may consist of opposing values (i.e., D-S or I-C). Most combinations of styles are referred to as “style blends” because each DISC type blend tends to shape or modify the other expressed styles.

For example, when a C is blended with an S, you often find a more measured and deliberate person. They are perfectionists that hold others to a high standard. When a C is blended with a D, you often find a person who can make quick decisions when presented with information. They are still perfectionists but also place a high value on acting quickly and efficiently.

Sometimes, opposing styles don’t blend. Instead, the individual will find that they move from style to style depending on the situation. The I-C will have the ability to research, analyze, and study but can quickly turn around and present their findings to others with great verbal skill. The D-S will want to move swiftly and decisively, while another part of them wants to slow down and spend some time thinking.

Opposing styles are usually a learned or adaptive response to the environment or an experience. For example, a high I style will learn to be more analytical after losing a big account due to a spelling error. A high S will learn to be more assertive as the oldest sibling after his/her parents pass away.