Childhood Personality: Why Are Some People Like Children?

Reaching adulthood should be synonymous with a mature attitude towards life. It is a natural process where after having passed adolescence, the brain has reached its full development and the person reaches a certain emotional balance.

But then Why do some people behave like children? Capricious, intolerant of frustration, victimhood, selfishness, they are adults who seem to have not left their childish attitudes. We are going to try to clarify this matter.

Why are there childish and immature people?

The reasons why an adult person behaves in a childish way are several. These attitudes are sometimes not obvious, you will not see them falling to the ground crying for something that frustrates them, but they do have tantrums that manifest in other ways.

Emotion management and resilience are assumed to be necessary traits for adult life, but it seems that this is not always the case. Why is it that some people have a childish personality? Here are some of the main reasons.

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1. Lack of empathy

People who behave like children have a huge lack of empathy. In the first stages of life, the empathic capacity of the human being is very reduced. To become an empathetic adult, we must develop our emotional intelligence through experience.

However, when a person has not had an empathic personality referent, he can hardly develop it. Empathy allows us to understand the other and put ourselves in their shoes, which makes us understand people and act accordingly.

2. Emotional overflow

Emotional outbursts are typical and normal in early childhood. The child's brain is flooded with unbridled frustration, sadness, anger or joy and, not having the ability to manage it, attitudes such as tantrums or moments of hyperactivity are manifested.

Nevertheless, the brain is maturing and these emotions should no longer exceed an adult. An older person who does not control these emotional outbursts can have aggressive reactions. When there has been no management of emotions, the adult behaves like a child through an “adult tantrum”.

3. To lie

Immature people often lie frequently. They lie to avoid responsibility, to hide shortcomings, or to blame others. Deep down they are weak, it is not easy for them to face the weight of their actions, so they prefer to lie.

These types of people have grown up in an overprotective environment that has prevented them from facing the consequences of their actions. Far from changing this attitude, immature people cling to lies as a solution to their problems.

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4. Whims

A fickle person wants to get what he wants when he wants. When this is not the case, his behavior becomes childish with impulsive, tantrum and selfish actions to get what he wanted.

They even tend to forget about the possible damage that someone else does, their interest is in obtaining something, that until they is not achieved cause a feeling of frustration is very great, which can manifest with hostility and even violence.

5. Intolerant of frustration

Intolerance of frustration is common in the childhood personality. When throughout childhood and adolescence, the necessary tools to control frustration have not been provided, you enter adult life with an inability to control yourself.

We all face situations every day that are not in our control. For various reasons we do not get what we want the way we want it. But childish people do not tolerate this frustration and act rapturous and angry, hoping to get it.

6. Irresponsible

One reason for the childish personality is irresponsibility. When a child or adolescent has not known the value of responsibility, she does not easily understand it over the years.

When this happens, immature people are not aware of the gravity of their irresponsibility, it is easy for them not to comply with schedules, assigned activities, or have the initiative to take charge of some work that requires you to be in charge, be formal and compliant.

7. To blame

Blaming others is a common attitude of people who behave like children. When something has gone wrong, or the lack of responsibility itself, it is not assumed and instead guilty is sought.

Sometimes childish people point out and accuse others directly to exempt themselves from consequences. But they also tend to justify themselves for their failures or shortcomings, introspectively blaming others.

8. Poorly defined personality

The childish personality is weak and manipulable. That is why it is said that the personality is poorly defined when an adult person behaves in a childish way. They tend not to have a firm posture and get carried away by other people or fashions.

This is relatively normal during adolescence, however an adult is expected to be firm enough to maintain self-control and not being moved or intimidated by other people, or to forget himself and adapt to what others require.

9. They seek immediate satisfaction

People who behave like children continually search for immediate satisfiers. Everything that produces easy and almost instantaneous pleasure is what childish people look for, leaving aside what requires discipline and greater effort.

This makes them people who rather than worry about the results, they go for the easy. It even has to do with your eating habits, your way of generating income, and relating to your partner and friends.

10. Lack of compromise

Running away from commitment and what it implies is a sign of a childish personality. Because of this, immature adults shy away from jobs, activities, and all kinds of responsibilities that involve commitment.

So beforehand evade saying openly that they commit to something. Although it is valid to accept that you are not willing to do something you do not want, the trait of lack of commitment in immature people, is not to admit it honestly and only in an evasive way not to assume the situations.

Bibliographic references

• Ekselius L. (2018). Personality disorder: a disease in disguise. Upsala journal of medical sciences, 123 (4), 194–204. doi: 10.1080 / 03009734.2018.1526235.
• Lokko, H. N., & Stern, T. TO. (2015). Regression: Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management. The primary care companion for CNS disorders, 17 (3), 10.4088 / PCC.14f01761. doi: 10.4088 / PCC.14f01761.