Allport followed the stages of development through to maturity, and used several criteria to characterize a fully mature individual. He also showed how these developmental stages could help mold an individual in many ways. These traits are "extension of the sense of self, warm relatedness to others, self-acceptance, realistic perception of reality, self-objectification, and unifying philosophy of life" (Text 276-277). These traits must all be present in a mature person for the person to truly have progressed throughout development. As far as other criteria for maturity, it seems there must be some. For example, I think a general criteria of responsibility should be added to the list. Some of that is addressed in Allport's "unifying philosophy of life," but there is no real aspect of responsibility that comes with age and maturity. I think that Allport's theory that young people are unsocialized hellions is a good example of this. As people mature, they become responsible for themselves and for people who depend on them, whether it is job, family, or friends. I think that responsibility is a vital aspect of development and of personality. .

             In terms of Allport's criteria, I am not sure if anyone is ever fully mature. Some of these traits have very lofty goals in Allport's definition, and I cannot really think of anyone I know who possesses all those traits in one package. People have faults and problems, and they come out in their personality and dealings with life. I agree that a "perfect" person would have all of those criteria, but I just am not sure that any one person could possible have all of them. My friends and I, according to Allport's definitions, are certainly not mature yet. I know some of my friends have reached self-acceptance and self-objectification, but are not there yet on warm relatedness to others or realistic perception of reality. The list could go on and on.