Emotional immaturity is acting in ways that show you can’t manage your emotions. We all experience emotions. They’re a double-edged sword. Sometimes, they have a good impact on our lives. Other times, they have negative consequences. Emotional maturity is knowing when your emotions can harm yourself and/or others.
Researchers have divided emotional immaturity in parents into different types.1Gibson, L. C. (2015). Adult children of emotionally immature parents: How to heal from distant, rejecting, or self-involved parents. New Harbinger Publications. While there are traits common to all types, there are also important differences. To more accurately show the kind of emotionally immature parenting your parents may have engaged in, I removed these commonalities from the quiz. These shared traits are:
- Self-absorbed and lacking empathy
Unable to meet children’s needs - Avoiding emotional expression and intimacy
- Unaware of the impact on others
- Lacking self-reflection
- Dismissive and emotionally unavailable
- Disregarding boundaries
- Poor communication
- Refusal to resolve conflicts
- Emotionally reactive and impulsive2Dobrić, T., & Patrić, A. (2024). The hidden face of parenting: Emotional immaturity. SCIENCE International Journal, 3(1), 145-148.
4 Types of Emotionally Immature Parents
| Emotional parents | Primarily driven by emotions |
| Driven parents | Overy focused on achievement vs emotional conection |
| Passive parents | Submissive and uninvolved |
| Rejecting parents | Avoid emotional intimacy |
About the test
This test is from the perspective of an adult child of emotionally immature parents. Of course, children, being emotionally immature themselves, can’t understand that their parents are emotionally immature. While taking this test, it may help to revisit your childhood and put yourself in your younger self’s shoes.
If both your parents are the same, you can keep them both in mind and do the test. If they were different, it is recommended that you take the test twice, once for each parent. The test is completely anonymous and free to take. We don’t store or share your results.
