The FABA self-report questionnaire on coronary-prone behaviour was applied to 628 GDR subjects (343 males, 285 females), who included students, blue-and whitecollar workers, and hypertensive patients, all split into three age groups (18±30, 31±50, and 51±65 years). Four scales had been previously established by factor analysis: Work Obsession (WO), Dominance/Competition (DC), Reactive Uncontrol (RU), and Need for Planning (PN). Two-tailed MANOVA and ANOVA were applied to analyse the eects of sex, age, and type of respondent (i.e. student, worker, or hypertensive) on scale means, using the de®ned sub-groups. No signi®cant sex dierences on WO and PN were found. With regard to DC, males of all sub-groups consistently rated themselves as more dominant and competitive than females. These dierences were highly signi®cant. RU was higher only in female students and female hypertensives. There was a signi®cant age eect on DC and PN: the older the workers and hypertensives of both sexes, the more dominant and obsessed with planning they were. No in¯uence of the type of respondent was apparent. Results are discussed in the light of cross-cultural research on gender dierences and the particular socio-economic situation of the former GDR.