Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and arthrosis (33 females and 11 males in each group) were compared in terms of scores in the Freiburger Personality Inventory. After matching subjects of both groups for sex and age, t-tests for correlating samples were applied. No significant differences were found in any scale; in three of them significance was just missed (5% less than p less than 10%). Given the number of comparisons, this is not surprising; in addition, personality characteristics, as assessed by these scales, do not agree with descriptions of rheumatoid arthritis patients as given in the literature. Our results, hence, do not lend support to the assumption of a typical personality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Elevated scores as found in other studies are most likely to reflect symptoms of joint ache rather than psychopathology.