When we say to a little boy, "Hey there tough guy," and we say to a little girl, "Hello sweet little princess," we are interacting based on categories we have deeply engrained related to masculinity and femininity. What theory attributes much of our gender role development to these ways of thinking?

Gender schema

Explanation:

Gender schema theory was officially introduced and pioneered by Sandra Bem in the year 1981 as a cognitive theory to examine how people become gendered in society, and the way sex-linked characteristics are upheld and transmitted to other members of a culture.

So gender schema can be referred to as a controlled set of gender-related values, stereotype and beliefs that influence behavior. they are formed as a result of the children's observation of the way society define and classify what it means to be male and female in his or her cultural settings.

i honestly speaking this is too long

answer; ///approx///5,000 miles;