The psychoanalytic study of the Jinx game is presented as an observational study of the development of object relations. The game is initiated by the coincidence of two children spontaneously saying the same word or phrase and is terminated by pronouncing

the name of the child who has been jinxed. Its rigidly adhered to rules, each reflecting, among other things, recently acquired ego and superego components, ritualize differentiation and subsequent redifferentiation. The game is viewed as a formalized latency and preadolescent recapitulation of aspects of the separation-individuation process, aiding the maintenance of self-object differentiation and the consolidation of the sense of autonomy.