Maturity has less to do with age and more to do with wisdom.

Some women still have a lot of growing up to do.

Acting like a spoiled brat, feeling hard done by, and generally thinking the world owes them a favor.

Let’s check out some textbook qualities of an emotionally immature woman…

1) She sulks when she doesn’t get her own way

I confess that I’ve been guilty of this one on more occasions than I’d like to admit.

It can be a defense mechanism. When we feel hurt or disappointed, we may shut down in order to try and protect ourselves.

But sulking and stonewalling are essentially passive-aggressive communication techniques that can be quite manipulative.

Rather than address the problem, the strategy is to shut down — which ultimately solves nothing.

In emotionally immature women it’s often used to punish others. She may withdraw affection and attention in an attempt to get you to back down.

When we want to have grown-up relationships we have to use our words and find better ways of expressing ourselves, no matter how hard it feels.

2) She is prone to tantrums

I would love it if I could always get my own way.

I suspect most people feel the same. It’s nice when things run smoothly and we get what we want.

But that’s also not realistic.

The truth is that life can be frustrating. Things happen that irritate and disrupt our day. People annoy us.

Whilst sadness and anger are perfectly natural and normal emotions, we can’t spew them over others in uncontrolled ways.

It’s childish and unreasonable.

Immature women have yet to learn the skill of emotional regulation.

So rather than observe the feelings that arise in her and keep a lid on them, they explode into temper tantrums more fitting of a toddler than a grown woman.

3) She can be rash and do things she later regrets

One of the hallmarks of youth is impulsivity.

We all have a drive to act on short-term gratification, it’s hardwired into us.

So it’s very tempting to just think about the now, and ignore the implications for the future.

But when we mature, we realize that we have to consider the consequences of our actions.

This isn’t something she has learned to do yet.

She will cheat on her partner in the heat of the moment, only to realize what she has done.

She will spend half her wages on a shopping spree, and struggle to pay her bills for the rest of the month.

Immature women frequently act on whims and regret it later.

4) She is blind to her faults and flaws

Have you ever met someone who acts as though they are perfect?

In their eyes, they can do no wrong.

It’s incredibly frustrating, especially as there seems to be no convincing them otherwise.

Self-awareness is what allows us to evaluate ourselves honestly.

This skill, which is an important part of emotional intelligence, isn’t easy to develop.

But without it, a woman will go around assuming she is in the right and that everyone else is the problem.

Not only is this terrible for her relationships, as we’re about to see, but it can be disastrous for her own mindset.

5) She makes everything your fault (or someone else’s)

Why?

Because she finds it hard to take full responsibility for herself.

At first glance, excuses feel like they make life easier for you. You get to dodge the burden and put responsibility elsewhere.

Someone else is at fault for letting you down. Life is at fault for dealing you a bad hand.

But as well as psychologically absolving you from blame, it simultaneously removes any power you have to change things.

So she ends up falling into victimhood and is always at the mercy of life.

6) She can’t handle any feedback

I hate hearing I’ve got it wrong, I think that’s pretty normal.

But the big girl in me also recognizes that as much as it stings, it’s good for my growth.

We have to learn to keep our ego in check if we want to evolve.

If we are too defensive we miss out on potentially valuable critique.

Very immature women simply cannot handle any form of criticism.

Her fragile ego will feel attacked, even when you have her best interests at heart and deliver what you have to say tactfully.

Being wrong just isn’t something she admits to. So you’ll very rarely hear her apologize—her pride won’t let her.

7) She says hurtful things

Everyone says things they don’t mean sometimes, but emotionally immature women seem to do this on repeat.

Sure, we shouldn’t let what other people say get to us, but it’s not as simple as that.

Words do have power and they can wound.

Mature adults recognize this and refrain from using language they know will offend and distress.

8) She is self-centered and can only ever see her own side of things

There are some fairly obvious reasons for wanting to believe you are right.

The psychological phenomenon of confirmation bias makes it even more challenging to question our point of view.

When faced with two opposing opinions, we cherry-pick what fits our own way of seeing things.

The antidote to only ever seeing your own side of things is empathy.

It’s this that encourages us to try to understand where others are coming from.

Empathy isn’t just a personal quality, it’s a skill that we must develop. A woman who never tries to get where you’re coming from hasn’t done this yet.

9) It’s really hard to say no to her

When faced with an immature woman you may be tempted to appease her, just for an easy life.

It can feel easier to go along with what she wants rather than resist and cause conflict.

Part of that is how poorly she responds to accommodating other people’s needs and wants.

So minimizing yourself can feel like a way to deal with her ‘my way or the highway’ approach.

When you do stick up for yourself or put your foot down, it might feel like she disregards it.

She doesn’t respect boundaries and will happily keep pushing until she gets her own way.

10) She can be clingy and needy

For someone so demanding, this next quality may come as a surprise.

Behind all that bluster, immaturity is actually pretty fragile.

She lacks the emotional tools to handle things in a different way.

To stand on our own two feet emotionally we need a certain amount of self-esteem. It’s this that gives us the confidence to be independent.

The more we value and appreciate ourselves, the less validation we desperately seek from others.

That’s why emotionally immature women can also be pretty needy.

They look for a constant stream of compliments and reassurance in order to feel good about themselves.

11) She’s fickle in love

True commitment can be tricky for an emotionally immature woman.

Here’s why:

It takes vulnerability to open ourselves up to a sincere relationship. We have to be prepared to expose ourselves and that’s scary.

The other tricky part is that when things get real she doesn’t have the skills to navigate difficulties and healthy communication.

When we’re young we all want the fairytale. But as we grow up we start to recognize that real-life relationships aren’t about happily ever afters. They demand compromise and effort.

Immature women are often still looking for perfection. The truth is that she may not really even know what she wants yet.

As a consequence, she can be unreasonably demanding in her expectations of partners, and can quickly blow hot and cold.

12) Acting like a princess

This is yet another area where an immature woman’s expectations are way out of line.

So-called high-maintenance women are often pretty childish at heart.

That’s why they have a spoiled and entitled attitude.

She expects others to run around after her or do countless favors.

She puts in a bare minimum and expects others to make most of the effort. In her mind, this is “high-value” but in reality it’s brattish.

She expects others to pay for her, do things for her, and generally prioritize her.

As we’ll see next, she acts like she is something special.

13) She thinks she is better than you

It’s true that we’re all unique. There’s no one else exactly like you in this world and that is something to celebrate.

But an immature woman takes this one step further:

She thinks she is special.

This sense of specialness can turn us into not very nice people.

She may act with superiority and treat others as if they are beneath her.

She may act bossy or demanding because she thinks she’s entitled to.

Perhaps she speaks badly about others and is quick to throw around judgments.

Anyone who evaluates themselves as fundamentally better than others has some growing up to do.

Being immature doesn’t mean bad, it just means being unaware

I like to think of myself as fairly well-rounded, but I know that I can still act immaturely from time to time.

After all, growth is a process and I don’t think we ever reach the stage where we always behave perfectly.

Screwing up is part of being human.

But ultimately an emotionally immature woman is stunting her own growth and keeping herself stuck.

Without the power of reflection, we remain trapped in bad habits that end up making up miserable.

That’s why the key to change is always awareness. The more we tap into how we behave and why, the easier it is to make progress.