self-validating

adjective

self-val·​i·​dat·​ing ˌself-ˈva-lə-ˌdā-tiŋ 

1

: validating itself : needing no guarantee or judgment of its validity outside of itself

An emotion is self-validating when it communicates information to the self … (e.g., one feels angry because the situation is unjust and, therefore, one has good reason to be angry).

—Robert L. Leahy et al.

… the Pulitzer business … is a self-validating ritual whereby journalists give each other prizes and then boast to the public about them.

—Alexander Cockburn

also : of, relating to, or involving something that is self-validating

a self-validating cycle

2

: tending or serving to recognize, confirm, or establish one's own worthiness or legitimacy : providing self-validation

a self-validating experience

Earning that win can also feel self-validating.

—Ritika Trikha

How we choose to interpret what happens in our lives—the stories we tell to ourselves and others—color how we experience life. It's time to tell a new, more accepting and self-validating story.

—Kathy Caprino

Examples of self-validating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When winning is the self-validating end goal, the story can completely untether itself from all other concerns including verifiable reality. —Dan Bekerman, Deadline, 1 Nov. 2024

The Monthly found a self-validating Washington where bureaucrats passed the buck, reporters got news from press releases, military leaders favored wars to advance their careers, courts served lawyers instead of the law, and no one was truly accountable. —Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined at sense 1