DISC Model of Human Behavior - A Brief Summary

As a teenager and young adult, I thought people were totally irrational and unpredictable. In my thirties, I learned about patterns of behavior that people tend to follow in many areas of their lives and in many situations.

Understanding these patterns helped me to realize that people are not totally irrational. Most people simply see the world, prioritize their activities, communicate with others, and act according to relatively predictable patterns of behavior.

The model I learned, and eventually studied to the point of becoming a master trainer, is the DISC model of human behavior.

Before we even get into this article too deeply, I want to emphasize the statement that people tend to do things in predictable ways. I do not mean anything in this article to box people in, label people, or to imply that any of us can know everything about any other person merely by understanding their primary behavioral style (actually styles). Still, understanding the model can form a strong basis for learning to communicate with and understand other people in better and more effective ways.

That being said, here's a brief summary of how the model describes normal human behavior.

The foundation for the DISC model comes from the work Dr. William Moulton Marston in the 1920's. Dr. Marston was, at the time, a Harvard psychologist. From his research, he developed a theory that people tend to develop their self-concept based on one of four factors - Dominance, Inducement, Steadiness, or Compliance. This theory is the foundation for the DISC theory as it is usually taught today.

Over the years, other psychologists and behavioral specialists developed a number of different assessment, teaching tools, and models to apply Marston's theory in practice. If you search the web for DISC assessments, you will find a large number of assessment and measurement tools based on the DISC model readily available.

The founder and president of Personality Insights, Inc of Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Robert Rohm, has developed a fantastic collection of practical resources based on the the DISC model with a positive focus.

As taught by Personality Insights consultants, the DISC model is described by a circle divided into quadrants to represent the full range of normal human behavior.

First, divide the circle in half horizontally to give you upper and lower halves to represent the "motor" or "pace" drive. The upper half of the circle represents outgoing or fast-paced people. The lower half represents reserved or slower-paced people. In general, outgoing people move fast, talk fast, and decide fast. And, more reserved people generally speak more slowly and more softly than outgoing people. Reserved people also often prefer to consider things more thoroughly before deciding.

Next, divide the circle vertically to give you left and right halves to represent the "compass" or "priority" drive. The left half represents task-oriented people. The right half represents people-oriented people. Task-oriented people tend to focus on logic, data, results and projects. People-oriented people tend to focus on experiences, feelings, relationships, and interactions with other people.

Combining these two ways of dividing the circle gives us four quadrants that break the circle into four broad descriptors for normal human behavior...

D-type individuals are represented by the upper left quadrant. They are outgoing and task-oriented. They tend to be Dominant and Decisive. They usually focus on results and the bottom-line.

I-type individuals are represented by the upper right quadrant. The are outgoing and people-oriented. They tend to be Inspiring and Influencing. They usually focus on talking and having fun.

S-type individuals are represented by the lower right quadrant. They are reserved and people-oriented. They tend to be Supportive and Steady. They usually focus on peace and harmony.

C-type individuals are represented by the lower left quadrant. They are reserved and task-oriented. They tend to be Cautious and Conscientious. They usually focus on facts and rules.

In practice, very few people exhibit behavioral patterns that fall neatly within any single quadrant. The vast majority of people generally exhibit at least two of the four basic traits in their everyday behaviors. Considering all of the different ways to combine the four traits and the varying intensities of the traits, a typical 24-question personality profile assessment can create 19,680 distinct and different profile types.

Describing the full range of application of the model is far beyond the scope of this article. In practice, simply understanding the four different basic behavioral styles creates a map for understanding ourselves and others more completely so that we can connect, communicate, and cooperate in more effective and productive ways.

Abnormal Psychology - Human Behaviour

Common psychologists simply describe the psychological diseases and their manifestations. However, through dream interpretation you have a clear explanation of why your disease appeared in your psyche and more importantly, how you can be cured and stop having abnormal behaviour.

What is normal is not always what is balanced and really good for each person, but abnormal behaviour is certainly far from the known behavioural patterns and causes damage to the person and their environment.

A wild and violent conscience is inherent in the human psyche . I discovered this when I continued Carl Jung's neglected research in the dark region of the psyche through dream interpretation. The human being cannot have a balanced behavior, even when one follows the common behavioural patterns of society, which are considered normal.

When we observe abnormal behaviour and we try to understand its psychology and how we can eliminate what causes problems, we observe that the wild conscience invades the human part, with several strange ideas, sensations and feelings. This is how the craziness inherent in the primitive conscience starts causing violent behaviour in the human side, and the person becomes aggressive.

This invasion can have many forms and appear camouflaged in many guises. The first signs of the invasion are usually the appearance of fear and suspicion. Neurotic patients are afraid of other human beings.

The craziness existent in the anti-conscience is a result of the disorganized development of the conscience since its formation. In order to reach a stage where the conscience would be happy, it would have to work very hard and organize its reactions, but it has not been programmed and it was developed without planning, which is why the result was the formation of chaos.

The unconscious psychic sphere that creates dreams is a completely developed human conscience that reached sanctity and can cure us from the craziness inherent in our psychic spheres. Once cured, we will develop all our capacities, be peaceful and always do what is good for us and our community.

The wild anti-conscience and the wise unconscious are constantly fighting in our psyche. The anti-conscience wants to destroy our human conscience, while the wise unconscious tries to save and develop our human conscience to the fullest, so that we may live free of the horrors of craziness.

Psychological health, balance and wisdom can be found only in goodness, forgiveness and piety. However, the human being doesn't forgive one's enemies and is totally cruel in front of those who need support and help.

The behaviour that is considered normal is actually not healthy because we are selfish, and selfishness is pure craziness. The wild anti-conscience manages to influence and invade the conscience using the person's ego as a channel.

Only when the human being learns how to be sensitive and reasonable will one live peacefully and happily, having a truly balanced and wise behaviour.

We need guidance to cultivate sensitivity and develop all the psychological functions, since three of them do not function as they should and only one psychological function dominates our psychic spheres. The wise unconscious knows exactly how to help us and this is why it sends us messages through dreams.

These messages are incomprehensible for the conscience because they could be distorted by the anti-conscience. This fact proves that there are two parts in the human conscience and one of them shall not understand what the unconscious tells the human part because these are instructions about how to transform the wild part in human.

If the wild conscience learned what the unconscious explains to the human side, it would distort these messages. This is why you have to learn how to interpret your dreams, in the same way you learn how to translate one language to another.

I greatly simplified Carl Jung's method of dream interpretation, which is the only accurate one, and now you can easily learn how to decipher the mysterious messages of your dreams, so that you'll be able to develop all your capacities and live happily, having a balanced and wise behaviour.