Does anyone know what anal retention is?
It’s a term from psychology, referring to people who are overly concerned about getting everything just right. Monica on “Friends” is anal-retentive.
jrf
Yeah, I think Sigmund Freud came up with the concept. He considered that certain personality traits are derived from toilet training.
The anal-retentive type is meticulous and stingy, since in theory they were punished for making messes when they were kids.
The anal-expulsive type, the one that nobody’s heard of for some reason, is gregarious and generous, since they were never punished for making messes. They are also somewhat more ambitious I think. They are more willing to take risks and don’t fear failure so much.
I don’t know if this is taken seriously as psychology any more, but the term anal-retentive (or its short form “anal”, which I find very irritating) has certainly achieved currency in pop psychology. I think the concept of anal-expulsion (albeit not the term) has some currency as well, in colloquial speech. When someone is “talking shit” at a party, not caring that they are making a fool of themself and annoying all the anal-retentive people, they are being anal-expulsive. “Hey, I know all about that subject, and I’ll tell you everything since I am so great and can do no wrong.” You know the type?
This doesn’t appear to relate to a Cecil column, so I’m gonna move it to General Questions.
Jill