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Reports the results of a survey of British senior managers concerning their leisure and work beliefs, as well as coping mechanisms and job satisfaction. Discusses the implications of the research for management studies.

German and British managers who were attending professional training courses in management were required to rate managers from the other country as to how they perceived them. The profiles were significantly different, with British managers perceiving Germans as more industrious, meticulous, structured, workaholic, while simultaneously they were more guarded, humourless, arrogant, threatening and rejecting. The profiles were unaffected by level of management or age. Collapsing data and subjecting to a principal component factor analysis led to three major factors being extracted, the first two of which were bipolar dimensions ranging from rejecting to accepting, and lethargic to hardworking. Germans were perceived as much higher on the factors rejecting and hardworking. There were no differences between cultures in their perception of managers along the third factor, self‐sufficiency, the latter loaded on patriotism, self‐confidence and self‐sufficiency. Discusses the implications of these results within the framework of managerial stereotyping.

In a weekly managerial newspaper survey the abbreviated German version of the Occupational Stress Indicator’s Coping scale was completed anonymously by over 200 readers. Of these we selected only those who were categorised as management (n = 160) in our study. The mean coping score for the full Coping scale was 36.98 (SD 8.65) with a split half reliability of 0.76 (total alpha = 0.84). Alpha coefficients for the two subscales were 0.85 and 0.58. There was no difference in coping profiles of men and women, but different levels of management and educational status did influence preference for coping styles. More specifically, as we progress to the more senior levels of management, delegation and maintaining stable relationships are considered the most useful forms of coping with stress. The more academically trained manager with a postgraduate degree is more likely to implement such coping methods as effective time‐management and planning ahead.

Several hundred German parents completed a questionnaire to assess their attitudes towards pocket money and economic socialisation. In addition trait competitiveness and occupational stress were measured. Demographic variables were less predictive of competitiveness compared to psychological/attitudinal factors. The more competitive oriented parents displayed a distinct monetary attitude profile: they were less liberal, more structured and budget‐oriented. They used money significantly more as a reinforcer for educational purposes, e.g. educational or scholarly success, and as an instrument to teach autonomy. Subjectively perceived occupational stress was determined by diverse socio‐demographic variables, although the stress‐demographic relationship was moderated by gender. Older fathers and men from a poor social‐economic background (as children) tended to show greater job‐related stress. Conversely, mothers from “superior” SES, with more siblings, and fewer children of their own, reported more occupational stress.

The relationship between diverse demographic variables and the occupational stress indicator subscales (Cooper et al., 1988) were examined among several hundred UK senior police officers. Officers who prior to their promotion to superintendent had spent most of their time within the criminal detective branch displayed the highest Type A behaviour (aggressive, dominant and assertive), and traffic officers the worst subjective reports of psychological and physical health. Superintendents whose present role is in the CID displayed the highest level of job satisfaction. There was some indication that women senior police officers used stress‐coping techniques ‐ particularly task strategies and home‐work ‐ more frequently than did men; otherwise no gender differences were found in terms of the other scales of job stress and satisfaction. Marital status was related to Type A behaviour and coping techniques, and parenthood with job‐related pressure and job satisfaction. More specifically, parents reported less stress in the home‐work interface than non‐parents, and were more likely to report more satisfaction in the organisational structure of the police service. The impact of tenure on “controllability” and Type A was moderated by police rank, that is, ambitiousness was significantly negatively correlated with tenure for superintendents but not so for chief‐superintendents. Finally, educational qualifications/ level was related to job satisfaction. Overall job satisfaction (especially satisfaction with personal relationships at work as well as satisfaction with the organisational structure) was lowest for the most highly educated personnel (recipients of a higher degree).

In a large‐scale survey of medical practitioners and consultant practices throughout Germany, job‐related pressure was found to be significantly higher among the eastern German Federal States (former GDR) compared to the older Federal States (former West Germany). More specifically, those practising in East Germany reported significantly more stress regarding the “work‐leisure interface” (problems associated with clearly demarcating work and private time). In addition, medical staff in the new Federal States displayed slightly lower levels of job satisfaction, and less risk taking and were more cautious in their attitudes than their West German counterparts. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This study looked at seven attitudinal and three personality variable correlates of three measures of pace of life. Pace of life was operationalised as three distinct measures; walking pace, postal service speed, and clock accuracy. Correlational and multiple regression analyses revealed that achievement motivation and competitiveness were highly predictive of general pace of life which is consistent with previous work. Moreover, linear discriminant analysis showed distinct differences in work attitude profiles between low, medium, and fast‐paced nations, the difference being significant for competitiveness, achievement motivation and attitudes towards savings. These nations also differed with respect to GDP, cost of living, energy (consumption of kg coal equivalent per head), and family size though nations did not differ in terms of economic growth and inflation rates. Overall, pace of life represents a simple, unobtrusive measure which is useful, subtle and a cheap indicator of national culture and economic progress.

A large‐scale survey was conducted to assess “attitudes towards risk and safety at work”, and more general attitudes to work among vets four to five years after German unification. Clear differences were observed between the old (West) and new (East) Federal States of Germany. Stress levels were significantly higher in the new Federal States but, interestingly, the city of Berlin shared the low stress features of employees in the former West Germany. Social cohesion or working climate was generally perceived more favourably in the new Federal States. Satisfaction at work was not significantly related to job stress, and did not show such clear differences between new and old federal States. Individuals from the new federal States were more emotional in their driving styles, less risk‐taking and more safety conscious than their colleagues in the older federal States. The implications of these findings are discussed.