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Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!

I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in _indirect speech_ ,
e.g.:

マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.  
スミスさんは自分はニューヨークの生まれだと言った。→ Mr Smith said, "I was born in New York."

as well as a reflexive pronoun (for speaker or listener/third party):

自分を信じて！→ Trust yourself!

and as possessive, to emphasise the possession:

掘っ建て小屋でもいいから自分の家が欲しい。→ I want my own house, even if it's a shack.

All these make perfect sense and share the same underlying meaning of
myself/yourself/oneself (with emphasis on the self). But I have also
encountered (in fact even caught myself saying) 自分 in places where 私/僕/あたし/etc
could have been used, with only a very weak emphasis on "myself" (e.g. not
answering a "did he or did you?" question):

自分はスポーツが嫌い。→ I hate sports. (?)

My question is, is this use as a _general_ gender-neutral 私 substitute correct
(in cases where there is no particular need to assert oneself against others)?
And if so, what would be its speech level (e.g. could it be used in a formal
context)?
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usage vocabulary first-person-pronouns
Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Not much of an answer, but between myself and my native speaker girlfriend, we
both thought the same thing, "It's the exact same in meaning and sense to 私／僕
or any of those, but it's definitely less formal."

At the same time, I don't think that means it's particularly informal; I just
believe that the rigidity of the business language prescribes 私【わたくし・わたし】 over
something like 自分.
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2011-06-12T04:17:32.180
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It's not always that interchangeable, as it has the meaning of ("my-",
"your-", "one-") "self":

> 僕が嫌い。 - I don't like it.  
>  自分が嫌い。- I don't like myself.

I'd translate

> 自分はスポーツが嫌い。

more along the lines of

> As for me, I hate sports.

I'd expect this to be preceded by a discussion of other people's abilities or
tastes in sport, the 自分 serving as a contrast to others.

> スタジアムでバイトします。スポーツ見る人を見るのが面白いから。自分はスポーツが嫌い。  
>  "I'm working at the stadium, because watching the fans is interesting.
> Personally I hate sport though."

If you'd replace the 自分 in the above sentence with 私 or another personal
pronoun, the meaning would somewhat disconnect.

> スタジアムでバイトします。スポーツ見る人を見るのが面白いから。僕はスポーツが嫌い。  
>  "I'm working at the stadium, because watching the fans is interesting. I
> really hate sport."
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2011-06-12T04:39:57.317
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> My question is, is this use as a general gender-neutral 私 substitute correct
> (in cases where there is no particular need to assert oneself against
> others)?

There is no intrinsic gender specificity in 自分, as opposed to 爺さん/婆さん. In
actual usage, it's mainly used by male speakers (source:
[Daijirin](http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/japanese/?search=%E8%87%AA%E5%88%86&match=beginswith&itemid=09084100)).

Speaking from experience, I have the impression that it's especially heard
among men who have certain inclination towards hard-core sportsmanship and/or
accustomed to commander-subordinate relationships like in armies. To cite
[Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%BA%E7%A7%B0%E4%BB%A3%E5%90%8D%E8%A9%9E#.E8.87.AA.E5.88.86.EF.BC.88.E3.81.98.E3.81.B6.E3.82.93.EF.BC.89):

> 自分（じぶん）: 体育会系の男性に多い。力士や野球選手などによく使われる。

However, the number of people who use this pronoun is not very great (in my
experience). So I think people will have different opinion about just what
kind of person uses it, because the number of samples available around them is
quite low. (Which means my impression above can be biased.)

> And if so, what would be its speech level (e.g. could it be used in a formal
> context)?

Depends on the context. I can easily imagine it used by a foot soldier
answering an officer during a formal inspection: (This example is completely
made up by me)

> は、自分は第709小隊の木村であります!

This is acceptable because 自分 is regularly used and even expected in this
imaginary army.

In other contexts, when there is no precedented use of the pronoun, it will
depend on how the majority of the listeners react. It can vary from offense
[[3](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1213671462)],
amusement to indifference.

If something of high value is at stake, like in job interviews, I would stay
away from 自分 and stick to a more general pronoun. Well, unless it's already a
part of your speaking style, or you're intentionally choosing it as your
personal brand.
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