stage can result in fixation and the development of an oral personality . Like a
child, adults with an oral personality tend to be dependent on others, al-
though fixation that occurs after the teething may instead result in excessive
levels of aggression. People with an oral personality often express an infantile
need for oral satisfaction. They may smoke or drink excessively and are con-
stantly putting their hands to their mouth.
When children reach the age of about 18 months, they enter the anal stage
of development. According to Freud, the anal region becomes the most impor-tant erogenous zone during this period. Not coincidentally, this is the time
most children are toilet trained. Traumatic toilet training can result in fixation
and an anal personality . An adult with an anal personality can be orderly,
stubborn, or generous, depending on how the toilet training progressed.
According to Freud, adult oral personalities develop when traumatic childhood experi-
ences cause the fixation of an excessive amount of psychic energy at the oral stage of
development. Smoking, drinking, and excessive eating are characteristic of an oral
personality.The Freudian Theory of Personality 51