selfdescribe

Self-describe refers to the act of describing oneself, including attributes, abilities, experiences, and identity. It can be spoken or written and occurs in social interaction, education, employment, and data exchange. It is distinct from self-presentation, which is often strategic, and from self-disclosure, which is the voluntary sharing of information with others.

In psychology, self-description is linked to the self-concept and self-schema. People describe themselves with trait words, roles, and narratives that may emphasize consistency or change across situations. The content and accuracy of self-descriptions are influenced by memory, mood, and social desirability, and are studied to understand identity and personality.

In linguistics, self-description appears in autobiographical discourse and everyday speech. Language choices, pronoun use, and evaluative terms reveal how speakers construct identity, values, and social stance. Narratives and portraits in media also shape public perception of the self.

In computing, self-describing data formats embed a description of their structure or semantics within the data itself. Examples include JSON with schemas, XML with schemas, and other self-describing metadata models. Such formats improve interoperability, validation, and schema evolution.

In artificial intelligence and software design, self-description features allow agents to communicate capabilities and limitations, contributing to transparency and user trust. They must balance usefulness with risk of overclaiming or exposing sensitive details.

See also: self-presentation, self-disclosure, autobiography, metadata, self-describing data.