Defining Emotional Maturity
What is maturity and how do we know if we’ve reached it?
Maturity is one of those words that we like to slap onto a compliment, birthday card, or the end of an encouraging speech. It’s in the same ballpark as words like “integrity,” “character,” and “bravery.” These are words that we like to use, and that we definitely like or would want to be ascribed to our own lives. But when asked to define these words, many of us might have difficulty putting a clear, concise answer forward. We grow up with words like these as our ideals, and yet, the majority of us aren’t quite sure what the target is that we are actually aiming for.
According to Merriam-Webster, maturity is defined as the quality or state of being mature. Upon pushing a bit further, the word mature is defined in one of these four ways: having completed natural growth and development, having attained a final or desired state, having achieved a low but stable growth rate, or lastly, of relating to or being an older adult.
In a study on adolescent maturity published in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services journal, Dr. Sarah Johnson, Dr. Robert Blum, and Dr. Jay Geidd give us a bit more formal definition on maturity as it relates to adolescent growth. They write that “maturity is defined not as the end of physical development, but rather for the achievement of adult-like…
