Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
スミスさんは自分はニューヨークの生まれだと言った。→ Mr Smith said, "I was born in New York."
as well as a reflexive pronoun (for speaker or listener/third party):
自分を信じて！→ Trust yourself!
and as possessive, to emphasise the possession:
掘っ建て小屋でもいいから自分の家が欲しい。→ I want my own house, even if it's a shack.
All these make perfect sense and share the same underlying meaning of myself/yourself/oneself (with emphasis on the self). But I have also encountered (in fact even caught myself saying) 自分 in places where 私/僕/あたし/etc could have been used, with only a very weak emphasis on "myself" (e.g. not answering a "did he or did you?" question):
自分はスポーツが嫌い。→ I hate sports. (?)
My question is, is this use as a general gender-neutral 私 substitute correct (in cases where there is no particular need to assert oneself against others)? And if so, what would be its speech level (e.g. could it be used in a formal context)?
Answer
My question is, is this use as a general gender-neutral 私 substitute correct (in cases where there is no particular need to assert oneself against others)?
There is no intrinsic gender specificity in 自分, as opposed to 爺さん/婆さん. In actual usage, it's mainly used by male speakers (source: Daijirin).
Speaking from experience, I have the impression that it's especially heard among men who have certain inclination towards hard-core sportsmanship and/or accustomed to commander-subordinate relationships like in armies. To cite Wikipedia:
自分（じぶん）: 体育会系の男性に多い。力士や野球選手などによく使われる。
However, the number of people who use this pronoun is not very great (in my experience). So I think people will have different opinion about just what kind of person uses it, because the number of samples available around them is quite low. (Which means my impression above can be biased.)
And if so, what would be its speech level (e.g. could it be used in a formal context)?
Depends on the context. I can easily imagine it used by a foot soldier answering an officer during a formal inspection: (This example is completely made up by me)
は、自分は第709小隊の木村であります!
This is acceptable because 自分 is regularly used and even expected in this imaginary army.
In other contexts, when there is no precedented use of the pronoun, it will depend on how the majority of the listeners react. It can vary from offense [3], amusement to indifference.
If something of high value is at stake, like in job interviews, I would stay away from 自分 and stick to a more general pronoun. Well, unless it's already a part of your speaking style, or you're intentionally choosing it as your personal brand.
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