What is Maturity?

There are several common answers to this question. For example, an older person is mature. Or, a person who is wise is mature. Another common belief is that a moral person is mature.

Although there is some value to these answers, none of the answers are accurate enough. Don't we often see or hear people who are older making immature statements and behaving childishly? And, isn't the news full of moral people doing immoral acts? So, the question remains: What is maturity?

There isn't a maturity rule that provides an absolute definition which people can follow as a guide or that can be applied when deciding if a person is behaving maturely or immaturely. This doesn't mean that society hasn't attempted to agree on specific traits that serve as a definition of maturity and that people in society haven't adopted the beliefs, values and behaviors suggested by society. Although many people have adopted these social traits, it doesn't make them mature.

From a psychological perspective, maturity is described in a very different way than a collective or social definition. For example, maturity requires a person to psychologically develop, which means that a person's sense of identity (conscious psychology) is in relationship with many elements of the person's unconscious (hidden psychology). The most important aspects of psychological development include a person's ability to: relate to her/his dark side or shadow, relate to her/his masculine or feminine nature and form a relationship with the deep Self, which represents the meaning and direction of a person's life.

When a person forms psychological relationships with these unconscious elements, which were presented in previous articles, behaviors, verbal expressions and compassion related to understanding and empathy for other people and life are more consciously expressed each day. A mature person respects other people and experiences compassion for other people simply because we are all human beings struggling with life, finding joy in life and contributing to life in our unique ways. When this development and expression occurs, we can say a person is mature, regardless of a person's age or level of education. Development and maturity do not discriminate!

Maturity is only one reason to develop ourselves. Becoming a more a complete human being is the ultimate goal in life. Living with ourselves and others in a more meaningful, compassionate and understanding way naturally follows. Becoming mature means we will be of benefit to ourselves, our families, our neighbors, the world population and the earth.