self-select

verb

self-se·​lect ˌself-sə-ˈlekt 

self-selected; self-selecting; self-selects

1

transitive : to select (something) by or for oneself

People tend to self-select the environments that fit their needs.

—Cynthia M. Allen

2

intransitive : to select oneself as opposed to being selected

especially : to opt in or out of something (such as a group, activity, or category) in accordance with one's personality, interests, etc.

As always, remember that our Twitter polls are unscientific, because respondents self-select …

—Eric C. Evarts

We self-select into partisan echo chambers, staying far away from dissenting voices on social media and cable news.

—Brian Klaas

… a compensation structure that rewards profitable growth and encourages low performers to self-select out of the organization.

—Patrick Burke

3

intransitive : to attract or involve individuals who tend to have a particular characteristic

… analysis of social-media responses self-selects for people who actually want to share their thoughts.

—Adrian Lee

self-selected

ˌself-sə-ˈlek-təd 

adjective

a self-selected name

an unrepresentative, self-selected sampling

self-selection

ˌself-sə-ˈlek-shən 

noun

plural self-selections

student self-selection of reading materials

self-selection of survey respondents

The method helped researchers rule out self-selection bias, or the possibility that people who seek out dental care are different—perhaps healthier in general—than those who don't.

—Sarah Yang

Examples of self-select in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Reps can self-select based on their income ambitions and time commitment. —Ryan Hohman, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025

Nixing screens for everyone on campus, and not just those who self-select into antitech organizations, could change campus communities for the better—we’ve already seen the transformative impact of initiatives like these at the high-school level. —Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 11 Sep. 2025

Further, there’s some worry that by spending thousands of years finding and gentling (or executing) male channelers, humanity has begun to self-select channeling out of the gene pool. —ArsTechnica, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for self-select

• architect
• circumspect
• deselect
• dialect
• disconnect
• disinfect
• disrespect
• incorrect
• indirect
• intellect
• interject
• intersect