I'm using Fedora and RHEL as well.
the default is a 64bit vm. If I use a 32 bit VM by setting JAVA_HOME everything works fine.
The /tmp/hsperfdata directory is created as soon as the (JBoss) JVM starts.
Maybe you are right and miss libraries or you have some strange settings.
I suppose that the JVM might fail if it is not possible to write the files.
Maybe 'lsof' give you a hint.