$(this).find('category:contains(1)')
<category>1</category>
<category>11</category>
<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <title>Untitled</title> <meta charset="utf-8"> <style type="text/css"> </style> <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.0/jquery.min.js"></script> <script> $(function(){ jQuery.expr[":"].contains = function( elem, i, match, array ) { return (elem.textContent || elem.innerText || jQuery.text( elem ) || "") == match[3]; } $('category:contains(1)').css({"font-size": "50px"}) }); </script> </head> <body> <category>11</category> <category>1</category> <category>21</category> </body> </html>