Predicting employee attitudes to workplace diversity from personality, values, and cognitive ability

•Honesty-humility, Extraversion, and Openness predicted positive attitudes to workplace diversity.•Cognitive ability, especially verbal, predicted positive attitudes to workplace diversity.•Valuing power, security, and tradition predicted negative attitudes to workplace diversity.•Valuing universalism predicted positive attitudes to workplace diversity.•Narrow traits of personality, values, and ability improved prediction of attitudes to diversity. The current study assessed the predictive validity of broad and narrow measures of personality, values, and cognitive ability on employee attitudes to workplace diversity. Australian working adults (N = 731; 66% female; mean age = 43, SD = 12) completed the 200-item HEXACO Personality Inventory, Schwartz's Portrait Values Questionnaire, ACER measures of numeric, verbal, and abstract reasoning ability, the Attitudes Toward Diversity Scale, and four scales measuring prejudice towards female workers, ethnic workers, older workers, and workers with a disability. Results showed that Honesty–Humility, Extraversion, Openness, and cognitive ability (especially verbal) predicted more positive attitudes to workplace diversity. Valuing power, security, and tradition more, and valuing universalism less was associated with more negative attitudes to workplace diversity.