Social learning theory proposes that gender typing is the result of a combination of observational learning and differential reinforcement. A third, Cognitive-Developmental theory , states that gender understanding follows a prescribed time line. The pattern put forth is that children recognize that they are either boys or girls by the age of two or three, followed shortly by recognition that gender is stable over time. By the age of six or seven children understand that gender is also stable across situations. No matter what theory one adopts, for most children, whose sex and gendermap are congruent, this insight typically goes unnoticed.
All children naturally comply with the demands of their internal sense of gender.
Boys generally express male behavior and girls generally express female behavior even when raised in closely monitored gender-neutral conditions. If there is any confusion in the child, he or she quickly learns from adults and peers that certain gender-expression behaviors are inappropriate for that individual. This is true even of gender dysphoric children. Others may continue to struggle by insisting that they be allowed to openly express maleness or femaleness irrespective of their assigned sex. Either way, the problem becomes subsumed into the child's personality.