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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.

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.

In a large scale survey of almost 2,500 medical professionals working in practice throughout Germany, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed to assess diverse socio‐demographic factors, as well as job‐related features such as occupational stress, work satisfaction and working climate, and attitudes towards safety and risk‐taking. Clinical outcome risk variables were also monitored, including on‐site accidents and driving accidents. An attempt was made to apply Lisrel analyses to provide a more detailed insight into the multidimensional nature of the interactions between the various categories of data. Background and personal variables (demographic and attitudes towards risk‐taking and safety‐consciousness) have differential effects on accident behaviour. Overall, on‐site accidents (within the medical practice) were directly and exclusively related to risk‐taking, in contrast to moving vehicle accidents, which were determined by gender, recklessness and safety consciousness. The results explained 6‐7 per cent of the variance which, whilst small, was significant, and more importantly, offers information and implications for understanding accident‐related behaviour.