The popular assumption from humanistic psychology states that maturity consists of self-actualization, and therefore not a function of performance capacities, such as the ability to form lasting relationships and achieve one’s goals. However, this essay will focus more on an explicit model of personality, one that is productively viewed from the perspective of oneself (the actor) and of the observer. Thus, maturity in this case should be defined from two perspectives – how people see themselves and how others see them. Freud and G.H Mead’s ideas will be considered in this context. Though they are different, both were fans of Charles Darwin, and their evolutionary theory supports that characteristics will be related to reproductive success. For instance, Freud provided the following three key insights: human nature is best understood in terms of evolutionary theory, motivation is the key to human nature and development matters – the way we were treated by our primary caretakers in early childhood. In addition, Mead also gave three key insights: human nature is best understood in terms of evolutionary theory, human nature is inherently social – social interaction role-taking are crucial, and development matters- especially our experience with our peers in later childhood. Both their theories will be considered and expanded throughout this essay, concluded by my personal opinion.
For this analysis, it is important to distinguish between personality from ‘inside’ – how one regards themselves – and personality from the ‘outside’ – how other people regard them. Psychoanalysis mainly concerns with personality from the inside as it describes the internal dynamics that drive the observable behavior. The focus is actually almost entirely on inner processes, and other people are not very important; Freud referred to them as objects. He saw psychosexual development as proceeding from birth to maturity through four overlapping stages. Freud’s view of maturity is generally performance based. He defined maturity in terms of the capacity to love and to work and argued that increasing levels of self-acceptance and self-control make this possible as it is possible to observe, measure, and analyze individual differences in these two capacities.
Whereas, Mead’s ideas primarily deal with personality from the outside as he focuses on the social nature of humans. He suggested that people’s concern for what people think shape their internal psychological dynamics. Thus, Mead focused more on public rather than private experience. For example, in one’s efforts to achieve life goals, how one is perceived and evaluated by society is often very pivotal. A distinction between the actor’s and observer’s view of personality is therefore central to the understanding of personality. Role taking as Mead defined it has two components: firstly, it involves thinking about oneself from the perspective of others. Second, it involves regulating one’s behavior based on what one thinks others expect. Furthermore, Mead describes maturity, involving from the actor’s perspective (a) self-acceptance, and (b) being responsive to others’ needs, expectations, and feelings. From the observer’s perspective, maturity concerns having a good reputation, which involves being liked and respected. Liking and respect depend on being rewarding to deal with—being predictable, responsible, and emotionally stable—and being a resource for the community.
Most theories of personality define maturity in individual terms in which mature people have a high self-esteem, and are self actualized. These definitions however ignore one’s impact on others. Thus, maturity should be more thought to be dependent on balancing one’s egoistic and altruistic impulses and one’s self-accepting and self-critical tendencies. Mature people would therefore, along this line, be defined as someone who is comfortable with themselves and open to critical feedback, engaged in helping others without advancing their own self-interest, and the degree to which the individual is integrated into their society without losing a sense of self. Similarly, a measure of maturity is the degree to which a person is self-accepting while at the same time realizing that he or she is not perfect. Within the context of overall self-approval, a mature person will listen carefully to negative feedback from others—including spouses, children, students, and employees—especially others with less status than oneself.
In my opinion, I do like the comorbid relationship of Freud and Mead’s ideas, to focus both on individuals’ internal states as well as their social nature as predictors of maturity. Although, I don’t necessarily agree with all of Freud’s stages of psychosexual development and the strong emphasis he places on one’s sexual development, which is why I haven’t included this. I do agree with Mead’s involvement of people’s social beings, as most theorists often ignore this as part of maturity, and one’s social relationships in my opinion are very crucial in the developmental process. Nonetheless, I do not agree with Mead’s point that from the observer’s perspective, maturity concerns having a good reputation, which involves being liked and respected. I don’t think that one’s reputation should define one’s maturity, as reputation is very dependent on one’s context and environment. For example, if a person that is considered ‘mature’ and has undergone self-actualization throughout their lives moves to a completely new culture in which people consider a ‘good reputation’ to be something different, it shouldn’t mean that they are not mature in this new culture. In this light it can be very subjective and open for change. Therefore, I think it’s important to still consider self-esteem and self-actualization in our definition of maturity, in combination with Mead’s ideas of human’s social nature.
References:
Hogan, R. & Roberts, B. (2004). A Socioanalytic Model of Maturity. Journal Of Career Assessment, 12(2), 207-217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1069072703255882
Theories of Personality. (2016). Highered. Retrieved 30 November 2016, from http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072316799/student_view0/part2/chapter2/chapter_outline.html
Models of Maturity 