<P> As children grow older and are more able to grasp the concept of gender and gender roles, they begin to spend more time with children of the same sex, further exacerbating the proliferation of gender roles . Martin and Fabes observed that by the age of two, children were already beginning to show a preference for interacting with children of the same sex . By the time a child is three or four, the vast majority of their peer interactions are with members of the same sex . As Maccoby observed, by the age of four and a half, children spend three times as much time with same - sex play partners; by six and a half, that amount increases to eleven times . Martin and Fabes observed that as the children began to segregate themselves by gender, the activities they performed also aligned with their chosen play partners; boys tended to choose playmates who were more active and rowdy while girls chose playmates that were more calm and cooperative . </P> <P> Children fall into these patterns with little guidance from either parents or teachers; they are instinctually drawn to members of the same sex and begin to adopt behavior that is considered gender appropriate . This phenomenon is known as self - socialization and drives the interaction between children throughout their young lives . This instinctive segregation encourages the gap between males and females and helps to reinforce gender roles as the child continues to grow . </P>

Explain how parental treatment and the media influence the development of gender