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The term anal-retentive (or anally retentive, anal retentive) derives from Freudian Psychology, although in common usage the original meaning has been altered. This term is often referred to simply as anal.

Conversationally, the term is often used to describe a person deemed to be overly obsessed with minor details. Its roots are said to be from the theories of Sigmund Freud.

The term is often used in a derogatory sense 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.

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 (including the bowels and 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] Those whose anal 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 believe this to be a mild expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

Although Freud's theories on early childhood have been influential to 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.^[2]

1. ^ Anal-retentive. WordNet 3.0. Princeton University (2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
2. ^ Berger, Kathleen (2000). The Developing Person. New York: Worth Publishers, 218. ISBN 1-57259-417-9. 

• Psychosexual development
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
• Oral fixation
• Anal expulsive