A self-adaptive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission/reception system includes a transmitter provided with a serial-to-parallel converter, channel encoders, a plurality of constellation mappers, and transmission power controllers, and a receiver provided with a transmission scheme selection device, a zero forcing/minimum mean square error (ZF/MMSE) detector, reception power controllers, constellation demappers, channel decoders and a parallel-to-serial converter. The transmission scheme selection device generates information regarding plural sets of information to be used, a constellation mapping scheme and transmission power and transmits the generated information to the associated units of the transmitter and receiver, thereby controlling the number of sub code streams, the constellation mapping scheme and the transmission power. The system and method provide superior performance and require minimal feedback information.