(Disclaimer: These views are from me as a guy seeing other guys acting like this. This may or may not apply to girls at all.)

Okay, to start off, I need to clarify five types of maturity (Not in order of how mature it is).

1. Mature – Has a sense of humor, but not crazy when it comes to trying to make people laugh. Accepts how their friends act. Tries to set a good influence.
2. “Mature” – Has pretty much no sense of humor. Often pushes their friends down about how their friends act, while pushing themselves up. Can be pretty dull.
3. Average/Normal – Fairly humorous. Not highly mature, but can be if they want to be. Kind of flows with everything.
4. Jokester – Very humorous. Not particularly mature. Can sort of be when it is needed. Will try to lift your spirits any chance he gets.
5. Just doesn’t care – Doesn’t care how people see them, doesn’t care how they act. Pretty much not mature in any way.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, we can go on to what can make you mature/not mature.

I would call myself in between a 3 and a 4. I can be pretty mature if I want to, but I tend to joke around a lot.

Now, I see a lot of kids these days that are “Mature”. If they saw someone like me doing something odd (Purposefully overreacting to stuff, being sarcastic), they would say:

“Dude, why do you always do [insert odd thing here]? You need to be more mature.”

Me: “What’s mature in your eyes?”

“Mature” guy: “I’m mature. You should act like me.”

So you’re saying is I should be a dull guy who pushes everybody below him?

Or at least, that’s what I’ve gotten from most “mature” guys.

Now, I have a lot of friends who are really mature for their age. They don’t try to change how I am, claiming that they should be like them because they’re better.

I look up to my mature friends. I want to be like them without them telling me to be.

Alright, what I’m about to tell you may shock and even kill you, but listen closely.

Girlfriends do NOT make you any more mature!

But you’re like: “You’re just saying that because you don’t have a girlfriend!”

It’s true, I don’t. But that doesn’t make me against them.

If anything, girlfriends can make you LESS mature. If you suddenly capture a wild girlfriend, then start bragging to your friends about how you got the best one and that you’re SO happy together, that’s NOT mature.

It’s okay if you point out that someone is annoying you by bragging or otherwise, but don’t set yourself as the example for them to change to.

But if you’re the person that is being told not to do or to do something, don’t ignore them, they can see what you’re doing especially since you can’t.

Or else, you’ll end up as a #5 on my list.

I came up with this little list of things I think will make you more mature. (I don’t follow half the things on this list, so don’t think I’m trying to put myself above you.)

1. Don’t brag.
2. Don’t try to change people by putting yourself as the example.
3. Try to think about what you’re saying before you say it.
4. Don’t annoy people.
5. Don’t ignore people when they point out that you’re doing/not doing one of the things on this list.