Irresponsibility is the refusal to be accountable or meet your obligations. The manifestations of this trait range from not picking up after yourself to blaming others for your life circumstances. The standard is: Recognize who is in control of your life. You are in control of who you associate with, how you spend your time, what goals you set and what dreams you have, and how you prioritize. If you are unhappy, only you can fix it. You are the barometer. If you choose not to be in control of your life, not to take responsibility, you are living at the whim of others and you have effectively limited your options. A responsible person makes changes in his life that make him happy and safe. A responsible person meets his obligations in a timely and thorough manner, so that no bad consequences result (e.g.: pay your car registration on time and don't bounce the check! If you are irresponsible in this, you end up with fines and a bad credit rating, not to mention the anxiety that you may be pulled over and ticketed at any time). If you are not willing to meet the legal obligations of owning a car, don't buy one. Only you can determine what obligations you want to take on, but once you make that choice, you are the control. Irresponsibility results in a chaotic lifestyle: you bounced that check so you have to pay a $25 charge to both the bank and the payee, which means you have $50 less for groceries, which means you can't afford dog food this month, which means your neighbor calls the ASPCA because your dog is leaping the fence to eat THEIR dog's food, which means your neighbors dislike you and you aren't invited to the barbecue at Mike's house. And you can't understand why you have no social life! Responsibilty = taking control over yourself. That's the standard.