Tony Robbins DISC Test (Everything you need to know)

In this brief guide, we will look at the Tony Robbins DISC Test, its meaning, the DISC profiles that one might receive from this test, and some other information about Tony Robbins and who he is.

Tony Robbins DISC Test

Tony Robbins DISC test is used for the assessment of the communication style of the person as well as their suitability to a job situation or as an aptitude test.

The Tony Robbins DISC test results should not be considered final, however, as they have not been validated scientifically and their reliability has not been measured either, which are crucial measures in case of a personality assessment.

Furthermore, Tony Robbins has been hailed as a life coach and management guru, but since he has no training in psychology and he does not have the necessary qualifications to design a personality assessment, one needs to ensure that they don’t depend completely on the DISC profile to draw conclusions about their personality.

Additionally, when the Tony Robbins DISC Test is used in an organizational setting by employers to understand the personality of their workers, it should be used in conjunction with other tests that are slightly more validated, like the Myers Briggs Type indicator (although even this test has questionable validity), and they should not be the only measure of personality that the employer depends on.

The Tony Robbins DISC test has 4 main aspects, and it is based on the DISC theory given by psychologist William Moulton Marston.

These four aspects are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness, which are meant to measure the type of leadership, communication and workplace personality a person might have.

However, this test, and others like it, have been criticized thoroughly for the lack of evidence they don’t talk about nearly enough, and many scientists have shown concern at what these results could mean for the person that is made to take such a test and does not show the necessary qualities for a role.

There have also been some reports that tests like the Tony Robbins DISC test can also lead to improper work culture like being passed over for promotions or being handed less important projects simply because of the personality type of the individual, and one particularly scathing New York Times article calls tests like these the “Astrology of the Office”.

According to the DISC test, the person may receive scores on the four subsets, each of which imply the following things:

Dominance: High scorers will be Direct, Results-Oriented, Decisive, Competitive and likely have Problem Solver tendencies.

Influence: The person with high scores on influence is likely to be Charming, Enthusiastic, Optimistic, Persuasive and Inspiring.

Steadiness: Someone with high scores on steadiness may be Understanding, a Team Player, Patient, Stable and Sincere. 

Conscientiousness: An individual with high scores on this domain may be Analytical, Diplomatic, Precise, Compliant and Objective.

DISC Theory

As mentioned previously, the DISC is meant to be a modern interpretation of the DISC theory by psychologist William Moulton Marston, and he formulated this theory as a means of explaining some personality types on the basis of their workplace related behaviors and communication styles.

William Moulton Marston was a famous psychologist who also wrote self-help books and created the character of Wonder Woman, as well as the systolic blood pressure machine which later became a part of the lie detector test, and he gave the DISC theory in a book he wrote in 1928, titled Emotions of the Normal People.

Though the title says Normal people, one also needs to remember that this aspect of normal is based on more commonly found people in that time, rather than the normal vs abnormal classification.

Based on his DISC theory, Marsten also stated that the “masculine notion of freedom that is inherently anarchic and violent and an opposing feminine notion based on “Love Allure” that leads to an ideal state of submission to loving authority.”

The DISC theory given by Marsten was adopted into the DISC test by an industrial psychologist called Walter Vernon Clarke.

According to Marston, people show or express their basic or core emotions using four behavior types: Dominance (D), Inducement (I), Submission (S), and Compliance (C), and these have been changed to Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness in the Tony Robbins DISC test.

Marsten said that these behavioral types came from people’s sense of self and their interaction with the environment and he has based these four types on two main underlying dimensions that he thought influenced people’s emotional behavior.

The first dimension in this theory is whether someone views their environment as favorable or unfavorable while the second dimension is whether someone perceives themselves as having control or lack of control over their environment.

Walter Clarke, the industrial psychologist who created the DISC assessment based on the DISC theory given by Marsten, created the the Activity Vector Analysis, which was a checklist of adjectives which he asked people to ascribe to themselves based on which they thought described them best.

The primary use of this assessment was the same as the Tony Robbins DISC Test, and it was intended for use in businesses needing assistance in choosing qualified employees.

Merenda, Peter F. and Clarke published their findings on a new instrument in the January 1965 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology, but instead of using a checklist, the “Self Description” test forced respondents to make a choice between two or more terms. 

A statistical Factor analysis of this assessment added to the support of a DISC-based instrument and “Self Description” was used by John Geier to create the Personal Profile System in the 1970s.

Geier’s DiSC assessment eventually became Everything DiSC which is now owned by John Wiley & Sons.

DISC has been used to help determine a course of action when dealing with problems as a leadership team—that is, taking the various aspects of each type into account when solving problems or assigning jobs and projects to individuals in the workplace.

According to the DISC Theory of Marsten, the four aspects work as enumerated below:

• Dominance produces activity in an antagonistic environment
• Inducement produces activity in a favorable environment
• Submission produces passivity in a favorable environment
• Compliance produces passivity in an antagonistic environment.

DISC Test Samples

Most people want to know what the DISC test sample looks like, so here is an examples:

“Your report is organized into four main sections:

Section I is devoted entirely to you and your unique behavioral style based on your responses to DiSC Classic. First you will see your DiSC Graph, the basis of your feedback. Then, in Stage 1, you will learn about your Highest DiSC Dimension and your tendencies, needs, preferred environment, and strategies for effectiveness. In Stage 2 you’ll be able to explore your Intensity Index to become more aware of your potential strengths and weaknesses. Stage 3 will help you discover how your D, i, S, and C dimensions combine to form your unique Classical Profile Pattern.

Section II covers the DiSC model and descriptions of the four DiSC Dimensions with corresponding tendencies, needs, preferred environments, and effectiveness strategies for each.

Section III overviews all 15 Classical Profile Patterns.

Section IV provides the scoring and data analysis behind your report.

Section V provides optional supplemental reports.

As you read your report, please keep in mind that no dimension or pattern in DiSC Classic is better or worse than another and there are no right or wrong answers. Rather, the report shows your unique responses to your environment. You may want to read your report through once, then use a pen or highlighter to customize the results by crossing out any statements that don’t apply and highlighting all those that do.”

DISC Personality Types: Examples

Here are some of the most commonly cited examples of the DISC personality types according to the home website of DISC profiles and the Everything DISC test:

“DC – Challenge, results, accuracy

Goals: Independence, personal accomplishment

Fears: Failure to achieve to their own standards

Leadership qualities: Setting high expectations, speaking up about problems

D – results, action, challenge

Goals: Bottom-line results, victory

Fears: Being taken advantage of or appearing weak

Leadership qualities: Showing confidence, taking charge, focusing on results

Di – action, results, enthusiasm

Goals: Quick action, new opportunities

Fears: Loss of power

Leadership qualities: Stretching the boundaries, finding opportunities

iD – action, enthusiasm, results

Goals: Exciting breakthroughs

Fears: Fixed environments, loss of approval or attention

Leadership qualities: Finding opportunities, promoting bold action

i – enthusiasm, action, collaboration

Goals: Popularity, approval, excitement

Fears: Rejection, not being heard

Leadership qualities: Showing enthusiasm, building professional networks

iS – collaboration, enthusiasm, support

Goals: Friendship

Fears: Pressuring others, being disliked

Leadership qualities: Being approachable, acknowledging contributions

Si – collaboration, support, enthusiasm

Goals: Acceptance, close relationships

Fears: Being forced to pressure others, facing aggression

Leadership qualities: Creating a positive environment, acknowledging contributions

S – support, stability, collaboration

Goals: Harmony, stability

Fears: Letting people down, rapid change

Leadership qualities: Staying open to input, showing diplomacy

SC – stability, support, accuracy

Goals: Calm environments, fixed objectives, steady progress

Fears: Time pressure, uncertainty, chaos

Leadership qualities: Maintaining composure, being fair minded

CS – stability, accuracy, support

Goals: Stability, reliable outcomes

Fears: Emotionally charged situations, ambiguity

Leadership qualities: Showing modesty, being fair minded

C – accuracy, stability, challenge

Goals:  Accuracy, objective processes

Fears: Being wrong, strong displays of emotion

Leadership qualities: Communicating with clarity, promoting disciplined analysis

CD – challenge, accuracy, results

Goals: Efficient results, rational decisions

Fears: Failure, lack of control

Leadership qualities: Creates high standards, improving methods”

In the examples above, the abbreviations stand for the core trait of the person and the other main trait they show, for instance, DC may mean Dominance and conscientiousness.

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we looked at the Tony Robbins DISC Test, its meaning, the DISC profiles that one might receive from this test, and some other information about Tony Robbins and who he is.

The DISC test is one of the personality assessments that is fairly common online, and though it is not as scientifically validated, many people like to explore their personality through it.

Tony Robbins is often touted as a life coach and his DISC test is quite famous as well, with people often wanting to know how to pass it and so on, but it is not the only DISC test available and it is also not validated or reliable, which is why the results should be taken with a grain of salt.

The other DISC test that measures personality traits is more validated and reliable, and if you want an assessment of your personality, it would be more beneficial to go to a clinician or expert so they can do it for you.

If you have any more questions or comments about the Tony Robbins DISC Test, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Tony Robbins DISC Test

 Citations

About Tony Robbins

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Robbins#Legal_issues_and_controversies

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7930305