The research was conducted through interviews with 200 children aged five to 11 in New York City and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, in which kids were asked whether gender-based statements were right or wrong.

These include benevolent statements, such as 'men need to protect women from danger' and hostile ones, like 'women get more upset than men about small things'.

The research finds that while children's hostile sexism decreased with age for both boys and girls, benevolent sexism decreased with age only for girls.

NYU Associate Professor Andrei Cimpian says boys may be less likely to recognise benevolent attitudes as "patronising".

"They may hold on to the belief that men ought to protect women because this view is in line with social norms and may be reinforced throughout their upbringing," Cimpian said.