Editing Psychosexual development (section)

===Anal stage===
{{main article|Anal stage}}
The second stage of psychosexual development is the anal stage, spanning from the age of eighteen months to three years,<ref>{{Cite web |title=APA Dictionary of Psychology |url=https://dictionary.apa.org/ |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=dictionary.apa.org |language=en}}</ref> wherein the infant's [[erogenous zone]] changes from the mouth (the upper digestive tract) to the [[Human anus|anus]] (the lower digestive tract), while ego formation continues. Toilet training is the child's key anal-stage experience, occurring at about the age of two years. It involves conflict between the id (demanding immediate gratification) and the ego (demanding delayed gratification) in eliminating bodily wastes, and handling related activities (e.g. manipulating excrement, coping with parental demands). The child may respond with defiance, resulting in an 'anal expulsive character'—often messy, reckless, and defiant—or with retention, leading to an 'anal retentive character'—typically neat, precise, and passive-aggressive.<ref name=":1" /> The style of parenting influences the resolution of the conflict, which can be either gradual and psychologically uneventful, or which can be sudden and psychologically traumatic.

The ideal resolution of the conflict is that the child adjusts to moderate parental demands that teach the value and importance of physical cleanliness and environmental order, thus producing a self-controlled adult. The outcome of this stage can permanently affect the individual's propensities toward possession and attitudes toward authority. If the parents make immoderate demands of the child, by too strictly enforcing toilet training, it might lead to the development of a [[compulsive behavior|compulsive personality]], a person too concerned with neatness and order. If the parents consistently allow the child to indulge the impulse, the child might develop a self-indulgent personality characterized by personal slovenliness and environmental disorder.