Maturity is the complete development of a system.
Maturity in a person can be physical, mental (psychological), intellectual, spiritual. A person who is mature in all these respects is considered a mature person. The immature man is a child. Usually a mature person is an adult. Maturity is characterized by a slowdown in growth.
There are many age classifications developed by experts from different areas of human knowledge (and for different reasons). For example, according to the ancient Chinese classification, maturity is divided into 4 periods: from 20 to 30 years old — the age of marriage; from 30 to 40 — the age of performing public duties; from 40 to 50 — knowledge of one’s own delusions; from 50 to 60 — the last period of creative life. Pythagoras compared ages with the seasons and, accordingly, maturity covered the periods of summer (20–40) and autumn (40–60).
Age periodization D.B. Bromley (1966) refers maturity to the fourth cycle and divides them into four stages: 1) early adulthood 21-25 years; 2) average adulthood 25–40 years; 3) late adulthood 40–55 years; 4) pre-retirement age of 55–65 years.
The stages of personality development according to E. Erickson include: early adulthood (from 20 to 40-45 years old), middle adulthood (from 40-45 to 60 years old) and late adulthood (over 60 years old).
The scheme of periodization of individual development (BB Bunak, 1965) refers maturity to the second (stable) stage of development, which includes two periods, subdivided into two ages. Adult period: the first age — 22-28 years for men, 21-26 for women and the second age — 29-35 years for men, 27-32 for women. Mature period: the first age is 36-45 years for men, 33-40 years for women and the second age is 46-55 years for men, 41-50 for women.
Few ask the question: “How mature am I?” You can answer this question yourself using the «standards» of maturity from M.E. Litvak from his book The Sperm Principle.
- An immature person often knows, but does not know how. Mature not only knows, but also knows how. Therefore, an immature person criticizes, while a mature person does.
- An immature person tries to arrange his personal life first, and then his business. As a result, neither one nor the other is satisfied, and she becomes dependent on other people. A mature person first of all arranges his own affairs and acquires independence. Personal life takes care of itself.
- The needs of a mature person arise from her successes, from her deeds. An immature person, without doing things, copies the needs of a mature person, increasing their size. (Think of the needs of older children sitting on the backs of their aging parents.)
- An immature person thinks about the result, and a mature person thinks about the deed. An immature person wants more than he has and deserves, as a result he often loses what he has. The mature person is satisfied with what he has, and then something else comes to him.
- An immature person wants someone to arrange her affairs, a mature person arranges them herself.
- An immature person hopes, a mature person acts.
- An immature person tries to control other people, a mature person controls himself.
- The immature person is a decoration, he worries about how he looks. A mature personality is a figure who does not think about how she looks.
- An immature person first makes a decision, and then adjusts the facts to the chosen decision — hence his suspicion. A mature person first collects facts, and then makes a decision based on them — hence the openness of a mature person.
- The immature personality wants to be in a position of power and have a lot, without being involved in personal growth and skill acquisition. A mature person cares about personal growth and skill acquisition. Position and money come naturally as a by-product of personal growth.