Emotionally immature people form part of a section of the population that, despite having reached adulthood, continue to embrace behaviours linked to short-termism, impulsiveness and lack of consideration for the well-being of others.

These characteristics define very well the way of being and thinking of children who, due to their lack of development of the nervous system, cannot yet think in abstract terms such as “community” or “future”, and therefore are guided by the whims and avoidance of slightly unpleasant or boring situations . However, in immature people these characteristics are still present to a greater or lesser extent.

What are emotionally immature people like?

In many ways, the social dynamics of today, which are very much based on aesthetics and appearances, rewards some people for behaving in an immature and individualistic way . Thus, committing oneself to the well-being of society as a whole and accepting responsibility is seen as a burden, something that limits our freedom and prevents us from providing for our needs in the here and now.

In other words, accepting life habits that characterize mature people does not pay off in many ways. This leads to a proliferation of people dedicated to prolonging their adolescence indefinitely, both in their personal relationships and in their professional life. However, this behaviour is so widespread and so visible that it has become “normal” , to be expected. Paradoxically, immaturity has become so popular that it is difficult to distinguish between really immature people and those who simply accept this new behavioural paradigm.

How to recognize emotionally immature people? Below you can see their main defining features.

1. Lack of empathy

The starting point and main thought reference of someone emotionally immature is the “I”. Putting oneself in the shoes of others (a capacity known as empathy) is an exercise that is not as spontaneously performed as it is by other people, and this step is often omitted.

2. Lack of introspection

Immature people rarely spend time reflecting on their own style of thinking . They live ignoring the possibility of self-observation and learning from mistakes without waiting for negative consequences to come from outside. In the end, this kind of experience does not consist of abandoning oneself to intense waves of emotions, as could happen when going out to a party or watching a television series. The fruits of introspection are savored in the long run, but immaturity makes us impatient.

3. Impulsivity and lack of foresight

One of the main characteristics of emotionally immature people is their inability to regulate their actions depending on the short-term and long-term consequences that can be derived from them. Regardless of whether the effects of an action may be very serious in the future, your tendency to let yourself be carried away by emotional outbursts will cause your behaviour to reflect unfiltered those visceral reactions which are based more on irrationality than on logic. This can get them into trouble often.

4. Low frustration tolerance

Because of his tendency to assume that other people’s intentions and opinions are unimportant, when they do not behave as expected (bending to one’s will) he often falls into anger .

5. Tendency to self-centeredness

This is another consequence of paying little attention to the psychological dimension of others: since one only thinks about what one wants and thinks about oneself, one believes that others are also very interested in one’s own personality, and one falls into self-centredness. In short, you believe that you are the star around which others revolve, regardless of whether you have high or low self-esteem.

6. Appearance of rituals and whims

Things that produce pleasure become essential in the lives of immature people. Many of these pleasure-producing actions are ritualized , and will be more important than making deals with other people, arriving on time for appointments, etc. In other words, they will get preferential treatment in the daily list of things to do.

7. The importance of having a good public image

Emotionally immature people tend to be very concerned about those situations that can affect their public image , to the point of undertaking projects or going places simply to improve their popularity. This is because the approval of others is seen as an instant injection of emotions linked to pleasure.

8. Aversion to boredom

As emotionally immature people link pleasure to “sudden injections” of well-being, activities in which these are not present tend to be perceived as a waste of time or, directly, generate discomfort.

If we add to this their lack of foresight about the future consequences of their own actions, the resulting product is a type of person who will hardly commit to a series of routine actions that constitute a project whose fruits will appear after some time has passed. In other words, immature people fall into procrastination, or the “I’ll do it tomorrow” syndrome, with relative ease.

Several ways to be immature

People who are emotionally immature do not have to exhibit each and every one of these characteristics.

The list of features is an indicative outline of what defines immaturity . This means that the lack of a certain emotional maturity can be expressed in multiple ways, depending also on the cultural context in which each person has been raised.