Select by description for jQuery v1.6+
var text1 = 'Two';
$("select option").filter(function() {
//may want to use $.trim in here
return $(this).text() == text1;
}).prop('selected', true);<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select>
<option value="0">One</option>
<option value="1">Two</option>
</select>jQuery versions below 1.6 and greater than or equal to 1.4
var text1 = 'Two';
$("select option").filter(function() {
//may want to use $.trim in here
return $(this).text() == text1;
}).attr('selected', true);<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select>
<option value="0">One</option>
<option value="1">Two</option>
</select>Note that while this approach will work in versions that are above 1.6 but less than 1.9, it has been deprecated since 1.6. It will not work in jQuery 1.9+.
Previous versions
val() should handle both cases.
$('select').val('1'); // selects "Two"
$('select').val('Two'); // also selects "Two"<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.3/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select>
<option value="0">One</option>
<option value="1">Two</option>
</select>