Proving the common notion wrong, a latest study has found that baby boys love playing with dolls than with cars or trucks.
Researchers at the University of Western Sydney analysed the preferences of four and five month old baby boys.
These babies were shown photos of male and female human dolls along with the pictures of cars and stoves.
The researchers calculated the time the babies took to gaze at the photos and measured their preferences on the basis of the time taken by them to see each photo.
The results found that baby boys stared at the dolls more than they gazed at the trucks and cars.
"As surprising as it may sound, although the thing to do is to buy dolls for girls and cars for boys, the science suggests boys actually prefer dolls," lead study author Dr Paola Escudero said in a press release.
"Everyone loves buying dolls for baby girls and cars and trucks for baby boys, it's simply what we do. This common knowledge is supported by previous studies finding that 3-year-old boys prefer to play with transportation and construction toys whereas girls prefer to play with dolls," said Escudero.
The researchers, however, said that they did not find such gender-specific preferences when the babies were five months old. This means that the changes happen due physiological reasons (for example, their hormone levels), cognitive development or social pressure.
The research team said that further research is required to understand the reason behind gender-specific choices older children make.
"More research is needed to fill in the gap between five months and three years to determine if it's nature or nurture that triggers little boys' interest in toy cars and trucks and other stereotypically male-associated toys," she said.
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
