II. WHAT MATURITY IS NOT
In defining what human maturity is, it is easier to first know what maturity is not. Maturity is not related to age. Generally we would expect that people behave according to the levels of maturity of their years. In other words, a forty year old would act like a forty year old and a twelve year old like a twelve year old; and so on. However, this is not the case. Many adults do not develop beyond a childhood level of functioning and some teenagers function at the adult level early on. One can be a fully-grown person and not be mature, or can be a person young in years, and yet be mature emotionally and mentally (Santino, 2005).
Maturity has nothing to do with achievement, what we accomplish. We can accomplish a lot or make a lot of money and still be very immature. Maturity has nothing to do with academics, how many degrees we have or how educated we are. Education and degrees in themselves do not make us mature (Warren, 2010)