Argyris Maturity Theory Presentation
Argyris Maturity Theory, presented by Chris Argyris in Personality and Organization, is one of the many theories that seek to explain the human nature and behavior. According to this theory, a persons’ development is processed along a continuous break of an immaturity situation to a maturity situation. A mature person is characterized for being active, independent, self-confident and self-controlled. On the contrary, an immature person is passive, dependant, has lack of confidence and feels need of control by others.
Many times, the self organizations functioning (in terms of work specialization, command chain, delegation level, control level, etc.), form in themselves a deterrent for the employees to achieve in a natural way a high maturity level. Many times organizations expect that their cooperators be passive, dependant, that have a short term perspective and that produce without requesting a high control level. According to Argyris, whenever an employee with high maturity level is before a situation like this tends to take one of three attitudes:
- Escape: reflects into resignation, absenteeism, etc.;
- Fight: through structures like unions or even through an informal organization;
- Adaptation: is the most common reaction and consists in developing an apathy and indifference attitude, in which the monthly salary represents compensation for the “punishment” that the work represents.
