Maturity depends on personal development. The same person can seem immature at different stages of their life for a variety of factors relating to their situation, and the most common ones tend to be:
- Lack of experience, which leads to a narrow viewpoint, perhaps a refusal to accept the views of others due to this limited perspective, and being stuck at a specific point in time without really moving on.
- Lack of knowledge and general awareness about life. It is difficult to be mature without appropriate knowledge and information which tend to enhance intelligence.
- Lack of intelligence and the inability to grasp issues that other mature, experienced people might easily appreciate.
- A desire to act younger than they are in inappropriate contexts, like people who wish to imitate others instead of being themselves, or try to be what they are not to feel included and part of a specific group.
- Fear of being an adult with responsibilities. Staying at an immature level helps the person to feel secure without needing to feel anxious about anything they are not quite ready for.
- Being kept at an immature and childish level by parents who are reluctant to let go of their children, and who deny them access to adult knowledge, action and experience.
Maturity is basically an awareness of, and readiness for, required communication and action at each new stage of life. Thus the core of immaturity is ignorance of behaviour in a given context through lack of knowledge, information and experience, which can also include a desire to play the fool, or use excessive humour, to attract attention.
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