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anal-retentive

 
Dictionary: a·nal-re·ten·tive   (ā'nəl-rĭ-tĕn'tĭv)
adj. Psychology
Indicating personality traits, such as meticulousness, avarice, and obstinacy, originating in habits, attitudes, or values associated with infantile pleasure in retention of feces.


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Medical Dictionary: anal-retentive
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adj.

Indicating personality traits, such as meticulousness, avarice, and obstinacy, originating in habits, attitudes, or values associated with infantile pleasure in retention of feces.

Wikipedia: Anal retentive
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The term anal retentive (also anally retentive), commonly abbreviated to anal, is used conversationally to describe a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the anal-retentive person. The term derives from Freudian psychoanalysis.

Origins

In the psychology of Freud, the anal stage is said to follow the oral stage of infant/early-childhood development. This is a time when an infant's attention moves from oral stimulation to anal stimulation (usually the bowels but occasionally the bladder), usually synchronous with learning to control their excretory functions, a time of toilet training. Freud theorized that children who experience conflicts during this period of time may develop "anal" personality traits, namely those associated with a child's efforts at excretory control: orderliness, stubbornness, a compulsion for control,[1] as well as a generalized interest in collecting, possessing, and retaining objects.[2]

When these characteristics continue into later life are said to be "anal retentive", or conversely, those who reject anal characteristics are said to have "anal expulsive" personality types. Some[who?] believe this to be a mild expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.[citation needed]

Although Freud's theories on early childhood have been influential on the psychological community, research suggests that the overall pattern of parental attitudes has a much more concrete effect on how an infant will grow up. There is no conclusive research linking anal stage conflicts with anal personality types.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Anal-retentive". WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. 2006. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=anal%20retentive. Retrieved 2007-07-14. 
  2. ^ Hall, Calvin S. (1954). A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New York: New American Library. pp. 108. ISBN 0452011833. 
  3. ^ Berger, Kathleen (2000). The Developing Person. New York: Worth Publishers. pp. 218. ISBN 1-57259-417-9. 


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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anal retentive" Read more

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