Summary.This paper examines the appropriateness for Nigerian students of the Self Description Questionnaire — 1 (SDQ‐1; Marsh, 1988) and the Shavelson model of self‐concept on which it is based. The results of an administration of the SDQ‐1 to 462 Nigerian 12–13 year‐olds are reported. The item scale correlations and reliability coefficients obtained were encouraging. Factor analysis generally supported both the specific facets of the SDQ‐1 and the existence of an underlying general self‐concept factor. These results are then considered in relation to other evidence of the cross‐cultural validity of both the SDQ‐1 and the Shavelson model of the self. Tentative comparisons of the Nigerian means with those of previously reported Australian, Filipino, and Nepalese children of the same age indicated that there was a tendency for the Australians and the Nigerians to have relatively higher Non‐Academic self‐esteem than the other nationalities. The Nigerians seemed to have significantly higher opinions of their physical appearance than did