The relationships are predicted from local polynomial regressions. Shaded areas indicate 95% confidence intervals. Preferences concerning time, risk, and social interactions systematically shape human behavior and contribute to differential economic and social outcomes between women and men. We present a global investigation of gender differences in six fundamental preferences. Our data consist of measures of willingness to take risks, patience, altruism, positive and negative reciprocity, and trust for 80,000 individuals in 76 representative country samples. Gender differences in preferences were positively related to economic development and gender equality. This finding suggests that greater availability of and gender-equal access to material and social resources favor the manifestation of gender-differentiated preferences across countries. Fundamental preferences such as altruism, risk-taking, reciprocity, patience, or trust constitute the foundation of choice theories and govern human behavior.