William Moulton Marston: the creation of Wonder Woman before DiSC
William Moulton Marston had little interest in theoretical concepts of personality or temperament, today materialized by DiSC or other personality assessments. He never even created a psychological instrument to measure his model.
Wonder Woman has little to do with DiSC, but her story reflects Marston’s theories… and his life.
DiSC: psychological studies
Dr. William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) was both a psychologist and a lawyer, as was his wife Elizabeth. Marston challenged his contemporary psychologists and psychiatrists for overemphasizing the worst parts of human nature. In his book, Emotions of Normal People (1928), addresses this issue: how can we really understand what is abnormal and unhealthy if we do not also examine what is normal and healthy?
The contemporary understanding of the DiSC model is built on some of the core principles advanced by Marston. However, the presentation of the model as we know it today, incorporates many additions and changes made possible that are informed by advances in psychological measurement and theory.
William Marston and his wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, had another woman, Olive Byrne, living with them. After Bill Marston died, Elizabeth and Olive stayed together for the rest of their lives — technically the rest of Olive’s life, because Elizabeth outlived her.
So why did Marston write the Wonder Woman Comic ? Elizabeth Holloway Marston, his spouse, earned a law degree before women had the right to vote — she inspired her husband to create the world’s most famous female superhero.
