But there are decades of criticism of the DISC. Some are methodological. Some are in terms of validity. And some are, as you might guess, that it doesn't measure anything. Rather, it self-fulfills my own expectations.
1. "There is evidence to suggest the only trait measured with any accuracy is, indeed, Dominance." From: http://www.salesteamfocus.com/whatwedo/psychometricTesting/shortcomingsDISC.php
This would be a criticism of the validity of the test, right? Does it actually measure anything real.
Well, I think to myself, "Dominance," or the exercise of power over other people, is clearly one of the most significant issues of my personal and professional and intellectual life. How do I exercise power over students (and when do I abdicate it)? How do I exercise power over colleagues, and when do I abdicate it? So maybe, maybe, there is still some value in this tool.
2. "A very high Dominance score means the person is more interested in dominating than in influencing, submitting or complying. It does not mean the test candidate is a very dominant person relative to other people." From: http://www.salesteamfocus.com/whatwedo/psychometricTesting/shortcomingsDISC.php
and "Like hundreds of other assessments based on the four style behavioral model, DISC reports the relative strengths of the person being tested. If a DISC assessment reports the individual is 75% “high D”, this merely means this individual is energized by asserting him/herself in dealing with problems. What it does not predict is how two people with similar DISC patterns will perform a job or interact with others." From http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/ira-wolfe/why-disc-doesnt-work-for-employee-screening-49119
"It frequently happens that individuals who are relatively submissive in real life produce high Dominance scores i.e. results that have little correlation with actual behaviour and performance." From: http://www.salesteamfocus.com/whatwedo/psychometricTesting/shortcomingsDISC.php
This would be a criticism of the validity of the test, right? Does it actually measure anything real across multiple test takers. Is a "75" Dominant score seen in two people meaningful in comparing the two people.
Well. Okay. So someone may score "High D," simply because he has preferences in "Dominance," but in real life, may not be a particularly dominant personality. I score "Low D," but know that I come across in some contexts as dominant (although I think that's just because I have a high procedural knowledge and a strong set of principles/ethics).
The creator of Wonder Woman is letting my down in the pop psychology department.
3. "A high Dominance score on DISC does not even prove the test candidate is dominant in real life; it could simply be that he/she particularly avoids being influential, submissive or compliant. Some people score high on Dominance not because they have dominant personalities but because the adjectives they chose which resulted in their high Dominance score were the lesser of four evils not the most attractive of four possibilities." From: http://www.salesteamfocus.com/whatwedo/psychometricTesting/shortcomingsDISC.php
This criticism is methodological. The test is structured in a way that forces one to place the four dimensions in a hierarchy. As a result, the top answer may not be the one one is drawn toward, but the one that is least offensive to the individual.
I got nothing.
That is entirely accurate, but it leaves out many of the most salient dimensions of me.
I'm not smart enough, at this moment, to list the dimensions left out of the DISC (although some versions, for example, use "compliant" instead of "conscientious," which I think shows some interesting biases, possibly gendered, in the four-part construct.
But by the time this blog is done, I will have done so many self-assessments, I should have some more solid grounding on how to compare them.
No comments:
Post a Comment