In an instance where you want to set a placeholder and not have a default value be selected, you can use this option.

      <select defaultValue={'DEFAULT'} >
        <option value="DEFAULT" disabled>Choose a salutation ...</option>
        <option value="1">Mr</option>
        <option value="2">Mrs</option>
        <option value="3">Ms</option>
        <option value="4">Miss</option>
        <option value="5">Dr</option>
      </select>

Here the user is forced to pick an option!

EDIT

If this is a controlled component

In this case unfortunately you will have to use both defaultValue and value violating React a bit. This is because react by semantics does not allow setting a disabled value as active.

 function TheSelectComponent(props){
     let currentValue = props.curentValue || "DEFAULT";
     return(
      <select value={currentValue} defaultValue={'DEFAULT'} onChange={props.onChange}>
        <option value="DEFAULT" disabled>Choose a salutation ...</option>
        <option value="1">Mr</option>
        <option value="2">Mrs</option>
        <option value="3">Ms</option>
        <option value="4">Miss</option>
        <option value="5">Dr</option>
      </select>
    )
}

What you could do is have the selected attribute on the <select> tag be an attribute of this.state that you set in the constructor. That way, the initial value you set (the default) and when the dropdown changes you need to change your state.

constructor(){
  this.state = {
    selectedId: selectedOptionId
  }
}

dropdownChanged(e){
  this.setState({selectedId: e.target.value});
}

render(){
  return(
    <select value={this.selectedId} onChange={this.dropdownChanged.bind(this)}>
      {option_id.map(id =>
        <option key={id} value={id}>{options[id].name}</option>
      )}
    </select>
  );
}

Use defaultValue and onChange like this

const [myValue, setMyValue] = useState('');

<select onChange={(e) => setMyValue(e.target.value)} defaultValue={props.myprop}>
                    
       <option>Option 1</option>
       <option>Option 2</option>
       <option>Option 3</option>

</select>

Example https://codesandbox.io/s/priceless-lamarr-fetpr?file=/src/App.js

Thank you all for this thread! My colleague and I just discovered that the default_value property is a Constant, not a Variable.

In other React forms I've built, the default value for a Select was preset in an associated Context. So the first time the Select was rendered, default_value was set to the correct value.

But in my latest React form (a small modal), I'm passing the values for the form as props and then using a useEffect to populate the associated Context. So the FIRST time the Select is rendered, default_value is set to null. Then when the Context is populated and the Select is supposed to be re-rendered, default_value cannot be changed and thus the initial default value is not set.

The solution was ultimately simple: Use the value property instead. But figuring out why default_value didn't work like it did with my other forms took some time.

I'm posting this to help others in the community.

With Hooks and useState

Use defaultValue to select the default value.

    const statusOptions = [
        { value: 1, label: 'Publish' },
        { value: 0, label: 'Unpublish' }
    ];
    const [statusValue, setStatusValue] = useState('');
    const handleStatusChange = e => {
        setStatusValue(e.value);
    }

return(
<>
<Select options={statusOptions} 
    defaultValue={[{ value: published, label: published == 1 ? 'Publish' : 'Unpublish' }]} 
    onChange={handleStatusChange} 
    value={statusOptions.find(obj => obj.value === statusValue)} required />
</>
)

A simple solution to set the value without using selected in option,

follow these steps:

Default the value to 0 [which I am not considering it as a value to be in use] to x-column

Refer the image

4 steps

1. set the "IntialValue" of the x-column : 0 to the
2. use the same string used in your [selected] and set it here with the if condition and when found, mark the "values.x-column = 0"
3. Remove the "selected" and other items set [if any] in tag 4.finally set this condition

now navigate , the value in the column is defaulted to the one which is marked in step-2 / that you wanted to be set in selected

I have tried and its working for me

A small correction.. line 45 in image.. read the column as column_value_id

I tried different options to avoid console errors the following option worked with selected option without errors in console:

    {const [myValue, setMyValue] = useState('');  
  const changeHandler = (e) => {
    setMyValue(e.target.value);
  };
<select id="select" value={myValue} onChange={changeHandler}>
            {!myValue&& <option value="">choise from list</option>}
            {elementsArr.map((el) => {
              return (
                <option key={el.id} value={el.name}>
                  {el.name}</option>
              );
            })
          </select>}

From options, you should be instead of value to defaultValue from options of that select:->

<select className="form-control text-align:center" onChange={handleChangeCountry}>
            <option type="others" >Select a Country</option>
            {users?.length > 0 && users.map(item => {
              return (<option selected={item.country_name === countryName} key={item.country_id} defaultValue={item.country_id} >
                {item.country_name}
              </option>)
            })}
          </select>

use defaultValue as suggested above <select

          <option>Please select</option>
          {categories.length > 0 &&
            categories.map((c) => (
              <option
                key={c._id}
                defaultValue={c._id}
                selected={c._id === parent}>
                {c.name}
              </option>
            ))}
        </select>