One hundred fifty‐seven spinal cord injured (SCI) individuals from three SCI centers were tested to investigate the relationship between self‐concept and adjustment to rehabilitation. It was hypothesized that strong positive correlations would be found and that neither time since injury nor level of injury would be a factor. The Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale (TSCS) provided a measure of self‐concept. Criteria for differentiating adjustment into a six‐point scale was used by nurses to assess rehabilitation success. Thirteen subsets of the TSCS correlated significantly with the nurses assessment. A norm deviate score from the TSCS showed P<.001. Variables of sex, inpatient/outpatient and time since injury were not significant; however, level of injury was slightly si