The term maturation comes from maturatio, a Latin word for ripening; thus, many dictionaries describe maturation as the process of “becoming ripe” or “mature,” and being mature as “being ripe.” In the social sciences, when we describe developmental changes as maturational, we are describing the change as having three characteristics: First, maturational change is an intrinsically teleological or endgoal oriented process. Second, maturational change is a systematic process. Finally, the end-goal of maturational change is an adaptive state. Maturity represents this goallike apex of adaptive functioning, and maturation describes the systematic and time-consuming processes that achieve maturity. Consequently, maturity does not just “happen”; it is a time-consuming and organized growth process.
