What is maturity?

Question

I asked a question a little while ago about adults and whether they are mature by being or if maturity is something earned. I got many different answers, some good, some bad and some completely off topic. However once answer questioned what maturity was and I think that is a very good question.

What is maturity, since there are adults who act immature (Paris Hilton for example) and children who act mature (a child of drunkard parents who is forced to care for siblings and possibly parents) it cannot be a function of age. So if maturity is not a byproduct of age then what is it?

What is maturity and how does one attain it? If it is a product of pain and suffering why is it that one person will gain maturity and another will gain only cinicism? Also how does our society help or hinder the progress of maturity in a person?

Please explain your answers.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I'll take a crack at this one. At a very young age, we all seem to learn the concept of "cause and effect". We must learn this in order to survive and thus, we attempt to control our world by evaluating the "cause and effect" of our actions. So, if you buy into that, then perhaps maturity gained not by who you are, but what obstacles you must overcome in order to survive. Paris Hilton's actions will likely have little effect on her survival; perhaps her popularity, but not her actual survival. The child dealing with the ill parent, caring for them, and their siblings on the other hand, will directly experience the impacts of their actions as it pertains to their survival. So, although these are extreme examples, I guess I'm saying that maturity is the ability to intelligently/successfully ensure their survival based on the environment in which one must exist.

Answer 2

I would best describe maturity as a mental status. Being able to make good decisions based on whats needed to be done not what you want to do. It's looking at life logically rather than through selfish eyes of want.

Its obtained over time. I wouldn't say its earned, Id say respect is earned. Maturity is gained.

Answer 3

In one word, maturity means balance....... balance between subjectivity and objectivity, between emotions and logic, between thoughts and actions, between self and society etc. etc.

Let me explain it this way. Maturity indicates a state of fixation..... fixation indicates stability.... stability comes from balance. We are affected by conflicting urges and tendencies none of which can serve our purposes efficiently at the extreme level.... hence the pairs of these conflicting (not necessarily opposing) urges or tendencies ought to be kept in balance to maximize desired impact... each pair must be kept in proper balance. For instance, too much thinking and too little action makes one impractical or theoretical. Too much actions without much thinking makes one error and accident prone.

Maturity needs to develop as soon as independent role is taken up... that is why children without parents mature faster. Once maturity is attained, further experience through age keeps adding to wisdom... experience without a reasonable level of maturity can not give wisdom. Maturity thus is the foundation for wisdom and the life experiences are the building blocks for wisdom. I have deliberately covered the relationship between wisdom and maturity since there is always an overlap in our understanding of the two traits in a person.

Great question.... I enjoyed answering it... hope the answer is as thought provoking as the question has been to me.

Answer 4

This Is what Maturity is !!!!! (Read this over a couple times to grasp maturitys logical skeleton)

Adults can not act "mature"
Adults can act "Immature"
Children and teenagers can be "Mature" and "immature"
Which begs the question what is maturity and why can`t adults act both mature and immature when children and teenagers can?
Maturity is a termed used to define acceptable social behaviors of certain age groups. These behaviors include but are not limited to - Actions, Mannerisms, and status Quo, etc...etc
Adults can act immature but not mature because acceptable adult social behaviors are lumped up into one category. Even though 20 year old and 60 year old adults will obvious have different social behaviors .... What is acceptable social behavior of a 20 year old Adult is also acceptable social behavior of a 60 year old. Likewise what is unacceptable for a 20 year old is unacceptable for a 60 year old. Therefore an adult can not act any more adult "Mature." He or she can only act less adult "Immature"

To simplify matters imagine this simple diagram which gives a rather "Rough" description of what maturity is ( This would not be so long if I could draw it ).

Logical Skeleton of Maturity

Column - 1. Kids 2. Teenagers 3. Adults
Column - Desired / Undiserable Social Behaviors.
Teenage / Kid column
Kids Ages 1-12 Teenage 13 -19
Adult column does not have different age groups it is 18 and up. To complicate things further imagine that the teenage and kid columns are shaded throughout the years. 1 - 5 is red. 6 - 12 is blue. 13 -15 is yellow and 16 -19 is orange. The shaded areas are key because it is acceptable for a 15 year old to exhibt a certain social behavoir as a 13 year old, However it is not normal that a 19 year old exhibit the same social behavoir as a 13 year old.
Now anyone kid or teenager that exhibits a social behavoir of a lower age group is said to act immature. It does not matter if the social behavoir is acceptable or unacceptable for that age group.
Example - It is acceptable social behavoir that 2 year olds whine and cry. However if a six year old kid (Remember shaded area 2,3,4 same shade 6 different)
or a 19 year old teenager exhibits this behavoir he/she is said to act immature.

All kids and teenagers that exhibit certain unacceptable social behavoirs of higher age groups are not said to act Mature. It is a typical adult social behavoir to smoke cigaretts. Smoking cigaretts is a tolerated behavoir but is seen as somewhat unacceptable. Kids and teenagers that engage in this typical adult fashion are not said to act mature. Kids and Teenagers are said to act mature when they exhibit Acceptable social behavoirs of higher age groups. Examaple - 15 year old kid owns his own buisness. This is acceptable and a desired social behavoir for adults therefore the 15 year old is said to act mature.

Adults can only act immature = Exhibits acceptable or unacceptable social behavoir or lower age groups.

Teenagers can act mature = Exhibits acceptable social behavoir or higher teen group or Adult.
Teenagers can act immature = Exhibits social behavoir acceptable & unacceptable lower age groups.

Kids can act mature = Exhibits acceptable social behavoir or higher kid age group, teenager, or adult.
Kids can act immature = Exhibits acceptable or unacceptable behavior of kids from lower age group.

* As descriptive as I tried to be this definition of maturity is still very much incomplete. Because acceptable and unacceptable behavoirs are also seen as desireable or undesireable behavoirs. Furthmore the types of behavoirs in what situations are not specified. You see these unspecified - blank areas of maturity is where Opinon steps in. What is acceptable or desireable to one person is not to another. . It is my claim that maturity follows from this Logical skeleton.

(Different Opinons) assign differnt values to the skeleton, it does not change the skeletons structure.
Example - If you think a 18 year old that plays with leggos is not Immature but I do. Then that means you and I assign different values to whats acceptable 18 year old behavior. This does not change what it means to be mature or immature.

Answer 5

Maturity is a state of mind and a willingness to accept responsibility for one's own actions AND their consequences [good or bad], and a healthy sense of empathy.
It's the journey more than a destination. Take care.

Answer 6

Like morality, good & bad this is again a relative idea.

Maturity is being "normal" in one word. Hope, you get what I say. When some thing functions as it should be, i.e., normally neither over nor less. Suppose a child is born with normal organic functions then we call it a normally matured infant, physical maturity.

If some thing gets over ripened either it is too sweet or soon waste. If some thing never ripes is neither sweet nor considered worthy.
Therefore, maturity means being normal.

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Answer 7

The state or quality of being fully grown or developed.
The state or quality of being mature.

The time at which a note or bond is due.
The state of a note or bond being due.
Geology A stage in the development of streams or landscapes at which maximum development has been reached or at which the process of erosion is going on with maximum vigor. Maturity of a landscape continues throughout the period of maximum topographic differentiation or until about three fourths of the original mass is carried away by erosion.

Answer 8

Maturity is the condition in which we see a situation from other peoples' viewpoints and then do what needs to be done, despite our personal feelings.

Answer 9

Maturity is the ability to keep one's composure and stay level-headed when in an adult situation. It's also the ability to act within the norms of one's society with respect to what it means to be an adult.

Answer 10

Maturing is learning to see beyond yourself and your center.
Maturity is having reached the point of acting on what you have seen.