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The purpose of this paper is to examine the “other-group orientation” (OGO) of New Zealand (NZ) workers as a way of measuring their attitudes to the growing ethnic diversity in the contemporary workplace.

In all, 500 randomly selected NZ employees were surveyed through computer-assisted telephone interviews. Males, females and ethnic groups were included according to their current proportions in the NZ workforce. Analysis is based on 485 useable cases.

While New Zealanders generally have a high level of OGO, minority ethnic groups and graduates score higher on OGO. Among people under 38 years, males tend to have a higher OGO, while among those over 38, females tend to be higher.

The study shows the value of studying the attitudes of workers in relation to diversity and OGO. Workers bring their own orientations into the workplace, affecting the way they relate to their co-workers.

The pathway to more inclusive workplaces in NZ lies largely in influencing the attitudes and behaviour of NZ Europeans. The study suggests that inclusive educational experiences may be a key part of that process.

While the research shows that NZ workers are generally very positive about ethnic diversity, it reveals variations among ethnic and educational groups in terms of their openness to others.

This study used a scenario design to examine whether there are different reactions among whites based on how a diversity program is justified by an organization. A reactive justification (affirmative action) was proposed to result in greater backlash than a competitive advantage justification (diversity management). In addition, this study examined the effects of personal and group outcomes on backlash and explored two individual difference variables, gender and orientation toward other ethnic groups, as potential moderators of the proposed relationships. Backlash was operationalized in four ways: an affect‐based measure (negative emotions), two cognitive‐based measures (attitude toward the diversity program, perceptions of unfairness of promotion procedures), and a behavioral‐intentions‐based measure (organizational commitment). Results indicated that the diversity management justification was associated with more favorable support of the diversity initiative, and that unfavorable personal and group outcomes adversely affected backlash reactions. There was no empirical support for the influence of the moderator variables on the proposed relationships, however, a main effect for gender was found. Implications of the study's findings and future research directions are discussed.