Our profiles derive from the work of Dr. William Moulton Marston, who was born in Cliftondale, Massachusetts in 1893. Marston’s publicly recognized contribution was his invention of the lie detector. His work as a consulting psychologist led to the publication of his book The Emotions of Normal People in 1928. In it, Marston described the four-quadrant behavioral theory that is the basis for our profiles. Marston believed that people tend to learn a self-concept, which is basically in accordance with one of four behavioral factors (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance—or DISC). Using Marston’s theory, it is possible to apply the powers of scientific observation to behavior. Thus, we can be objective and descriptive rather than subjective and judgmental in our observations of how people go about doing their work and living their lives.

There are dozens of companies today that sell behavioral models based on Marston’s work as a basis for objectively describing behavior. Our assessment instruments enable employers to identify “patterns of behavior” in such a way as to make practical application of Marston’s theory.

An Adobe Acrobat file of the validity study, The Importance of Finding the Real Person at Work, by Dr. David M. Warburton, may be downloaded here.