Freud's Personality Types

Do you know what people mean when they describe someone as being oral or anal? Many times I have heard someone describe a co-worker as being anal and I wasn't quite sure what type of personality that would be.

Recently, I was going through a psychology text and I found the answer to my question. This chapter was about various personality types . Listed were five stages that an individual goes through in their early developmental stages of life. Since the oral personality and the anal individual are the most commonly used, I will impart this information about these types of individuals.

The first stage is the oral stage. According to Freud, an infant is born with the desire for physical pleasure, which is focused on the mouth region. If you've raised children, you will remember that it is at this stage that the infant spends much of his/her time sucking, eating and biting. Freud states that behavior focused on the mouth is a source of sexual pleasure.

An infant can remain fixated on this stage if the mother overindulges her infant's sucking desire. If she constantly feeds this infant on demand, this overindulgence develops into an oral personality. Freud makes a further statement that this overindulgence creates an adult who admires strength and leadership, but generally will not take a leadership role.

On the other hand, Freud states that if the mother is under indulgent and abruptly weans the infant, this infant will grow up to be aggressive, a sadistic person, who exploits others for his or her own benefit. Orally fixated people may also spend much of their later life centered around the mouth area. This can be seen in people who are constantly eating, smoking, or spending a great deal of their time talking. Do you know anyone who fits this category? I know people who fall into this category, but since I didn't know them as an infant, I have no way of testing this theory, so I'll leave it up to Freud.