Maturity

The characteristics of psychological maturity vary according to the authority.

For Marie Johoda a healthy personality is characterized by: ability to actively master the environment; demonstration of a certain unity of personality; and ability to perceive the world and one's self correctly.

For E H Erikson the characteristics emerge at different periods of the life cycle: a basic sense of trust (infancy); a sense of autonomy (early childhood); a sense of initiative (play age); industry and competence (school age); personal identity (adolescence); intimacy (young adult); generativity (adulthood); integrity and acceptance (mature age).

For A H Maslow, self-actualizing personalities are characterized by: more efficient perception of reality and more comfortable relations with it; acceptance of self, others, nature; spontaneity; problem centering; detachment; independence of culture and environment; continued freshness of appreciation; limitless horizons; social feeling; deep but selective social relationships; democratic character structure; ethical certainty; unhostile sense of humour; creativeness. They are in good psychological health, with their basic needs satisfied; their life is centred round a vocation, what they do is for intrinsically worthwhile principles - [metaneeds]

or [B-Values]

. < For G W Allport they are: an extension of the sense of self; a warm relationship of self to others; emotional security and self-acceptance; realistic perception and assessment of skills and assignments; self-objectification with insight and humour; and a unifying philosophy of life.

[An extension of the sense of self]

requires that the individual participate in an authentic manner in some significant spheres of human endeavour. This activity should extend beyond simple task-involvement to ego-involvement. True participation gives direction to life. Maturity advances in proportion as lives are decentred from the clamorous immediacy of the body and egocentredness. Self-expression requires of the individual the capacity to lose himself in the pursuit of objectives, not primarily referred to the self. Unless directed outward toward socialized, culturally compatible ends, unless absorbed in causes that outshine self-seeking and vanity, a person must necessarily remain immature.

[A warm relationship of self to others]

may be of two kinds. By virtue of self-extension, an individual is capable of great intimacy in his capacity for love within the family or in friendship. But the person also has a certain detachment, taking the form of compassion, which makes him respectful and appreciative of the human condition of all men. By contrast the immature person feels that only he and his groups have the distinctively human experiences, and that all else is alien, dangerous, and to be excluded.

[Emotional security and self-acceptance]

distinguish the person with emotional poise and include the ability to avoid overreaction to matters pertaining to segmental drives. The mature person tolerates frustration and is prepared to take blame if it is appropriate to do so. He has learned to live with his emotional states in such a way that they do not betray him into impulsive acts nor interfere with the well-being of others. He expresses his convictions and feelings with consideration for the convictions and feelings of others and does not feel threatened by his own emotional expression or by theirs. He possesses integrative values that control and measure the flow of emotional impulse.

[Realistic perception and assessment of skills and assignments]

is required for solving objective problems. Mature people are problem oriented; something objective is worth doing and egoistic impulses of drive-satisfaction can be put aside for long periods. Not only are perceptions veridical (since maturity does not bend reality to fit the individual's needs and fantasies), and cognitive operations accurate and realistic, but appropriate skills are acquired to handle the problem-situations confronted.

[Self-objectification, with insight and humour]

is characteristic of the mature person because he has the most complete sense of proportion concerning his own qualities and cherished values and is able to perceive their incongruities and absurdities in certain settings. Self-objectification gives the mature person detachment when he surveys his own pretensions in relation to his abilities, his present objectives in relation to possible objectives for himself, his own equipment in comparison with the equipment of others, and his opinion of himself in relation to the opinion others hold of him.

[A unifying philosophy of life]

or sense of directedness is more marked, more outwardly focused, than in the less mature. Such a philosophy is not necessarily articulated in words. It may take the form of a value-orientation of which religions may be the most comprehensive and integrative.