Do Your DISC Styles Change Over Time?
Do our behavioural styles change over time ?
DISC profiles are often described as if they reveal a fixed behavioural identity: “I am a D”, “She is an S” or “He has always been a high C”.
This language is convenient, but it can also be misleading.
The evidence from personality psychology suggests that our underlying tendencies are relatively stable, particularly as we get older. However, they are not permanently fixed. More importantly, the way we express those tendencies can change considerably according to our role, experience, confidence and environment.
A DISC profile should therefore be viewed as a useful picture of our current behavioural preferences—not a permanent label defining who we will always be.
The short answer: stable, but not fixed
There is limited independent longitudinal research specifically examining whether DISC profiles change over many years. Most of the stronger evidence comes from research into broader personality traits, particularly the Big Five model of personality.
That research consistently arrives at two conclusions:
Personality demonstrates meaningful stability over time.
Personality also remains capable of change throughout adulthood.
A major meta-analysis by psychologists Brent Roberts and Wendy DelVecchio combined the results of 152 longitudinal studies. It found that personality became progressively more stable with age. Estimated stability increased from approximately .54 during the university years to .64 around age 30, reaching approximately .74 between the ages of 50 and 70.
However, stability never reached 1.00. Even later in life, people continued to demonstrate some change.
The evidence therefore does not support either extreme. Our behavioural tendencies are neither completely fixed nor endlessly fluid.
Preference is not the same as behaviour
One reason people become confused about changes in DISC results is that they treat preference and behaviour as though they are the same thing.
It is more useful to distinguish between three things:
Preference: The behaviour that feels most natural and requires the least effort.
Capability: The range of behaviours a person has learned to use effectively.
Current expression: The behaviour being drawn out by a particular role, relationship or environment.
Our preferences are likely to remain relatively stable. Our capabilities can develop substantially, while our current expression may change considerably from one situation to another.
For example, a leader with a natural S preference may value stability, cooperation and support. After moving into a senior role, they may learn to make faster decisions, challenge others more directly and communicate with greater authority.
This does not necessarily mean that they have “become a D”. They may have developed greater access to D-style behaviours because their role requires them.
Likewise, someone with a natural i preference may become more analytical and measured when working in a highly regulated, technical or risk-conscious environment. Their underlying preference for interaction and enthusiasm may remain, but it is expressed within a different set of expectations.
Why might a DISC profile change?
There are several legitimate reasons a person may receive a different result when they complete a DISC assessment again.
A change in role
Different roles reward different behaviours. Moving from a specialist position into management may require greater assertiveness, influence and decisiveness. Moving into risk, governance or quality assurance may strengthen the expression of caution, accuracy and systematic thinking.
Over time, behaviours that were initially deliberate and effortful can become more comfortable and habitual.
Increased confidence and experience
A person who previously avoided conflict may become more comfortable speaking directly after developing their confidence and communication skills. Someone who once needed considerable detail before making a decision may learn to act with less information as their judgement develops.
The person has not necessarily abandoned their natural style. They have expanded their behavioural repertoire.
Workplace culture
Organisational environments communicate powerful messages about which behaviours are valued.
A fast-moving, commercially focused culture may reward urgency, challenge and visible confidence. A safety-critical environment may reinforce caution, consistency and attention to detail. A highly collaborative culture may encourage consultation, empathy and inclusion.
Research examining workplace conditions and personality development suggests the relationship can operate in both directions: personality influences the work people select, while work experiences can also contribute to gradual personality change.
Significant life experiences
Career transitions, increased responsibility, relationships, adversity and other major experiences can alter how people see themselves and respond to the world.
These changes are usually gradual rather than sudden, but over several years they may be substantial enough to affect an assessment result.
Deliberate development
Personality is not entirely beyond our influence. A systematic review of more than 200 intervention studies found that personality traits can change through structured interventions, with notable changes sometimes occurring over several months.
Leadership development, coaching, repeated practice and feedback can therefore do more than teach isolated techniques. They can gradually change habitual patterns of thinking and behaviour.
A different frame of reference
Assessment results can also change without representing a deep psychological transformation.
A person might complete an assessment while thinking about their general behaviour on one occasion and their behaviour as a manager on another. They might also be influenced by a recent conflict, organisational restructure, stressful period or new team.
Because self-report assessments rely on how people currently understand themselves, changes in perspective can affect the results.
Behaviour varies more than most profiles suggest
Modern personality research increasingly distinguishes between enduring traits and temporary “personality states”.
A person may be generally introverted but highly outgoing when presenting a subject they know well. A naturally accommodating person may become forceful when defending an important value. A decisive leader may become much more cautious when operating outside their expertise.
These are not necessarily contradictions. They demonstrate that behaviour emerges from the interaction between the person and the situation.
The better someone understands their DISC preferences, the more able they may be to make conscious behavioural choices rather than simply following their default response.
What if your primary DISC style changes?
A change in the primary label does not always represent a major change in the person.
DISC describes behaviour along a series of continua. Someone positioned close to the boundary between two styles may move from one category to another following a relatively small shift in their responses.
For example, a person may receive an iD result on one occasion and a Di result several years later. The headline label has changed, but the underlying pattern may remain broadly similar.
It is therefore more useful to look beyond the primary letter and consider:
How large was the movement?
Which priorities became stronger or weaker?
What has changed in the person’s role or environment?
Which behaviours now feel more comfortable?
Which behaviours still require conscious effort?
Do other people observe the same change?
The conversation generated by the difference is usually more valuable than deciding which profile is the “correct” one.
The goal is flexibility, not a new label
Leadership development should not aim to turn an S into a D, a C into an i or any other combination.
Every DISC style brings potential strengths and potential limitations. Difficulties arise when people overuse their preferred style or apply it indiscriminately.
A direct and results-focused leader may need to slow down and consult. An enthusiastic and persuasive leader may need to spend more time testing assumptions. A patient and supportive leader may need to address performance issues sooner. A careful and analytical leader may need to act before every uncertainty has been resolved.
The objective is not to replace a leader’s natural style. It is to help them become less constrained by it.
A better way to think about DISC
Rather than saying, “This is who I am”, it is more helpful to say:
“This is where I am most likely to start.”
Your DISC profile can identify the behaviours that come naturally, the situations that may energise or drain you, and the responses you may overuse under pressure. It does not determine the full range of behaviours available to you.
Our underlying tendencies may provide continuity, but experience, context and deliberate development shape how those tendencies are expressed.
DISC styles can change over time. More often, however, what changes is the range, confidence and flexibility with which we use them.
That is an encouraging message for leadership development: we do not need to become a different person to become a more effective leader. We need to understand our defaults, recognise what the situation requires and build the capacity to respond with greater choice. Check out People Analytics Australia DISC assessment and reports here.
References
Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126(1), 3–25. Read the study
Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 117–141. View the abstract
Le, K., Donnellan, M. B., & Conger, R. (2013). Personality development at work: Workplace conditions, personality changes and the corresponsive principle. Journal of Personality, 82(1), 44–56. Read the study
Zheng, A., et al. (2023). Job characteristics and personality change in young adulthood. Read the study
