In this study, we examined the effects of colorblind racial attitudes and outgroup prejudice on people's social network positions within a diverse social setting. Sixty-four racially diverse participants created self-resembling avatars and interacted in groups of diverse peers in the virtual world, Second Life. We conducted a social network analysis based on friendships developed during the group interactions and also examined participants' physical distances in relation to outgroup members and levels of chat participation. Colorblind racial attitudes, but not outgroup prejudice, were directly related to lower levels of closeness centrality and clustering within the network. In addition, outgroup physical distance, but not chat participation, was found to be a behavioral mechanism that mediated the relationships between: 1) colorblind racial attitudes and closeness centrality; and 2) colorblind racial attitudes and clustering. Findings are discussed in relation to the adverse affects of colorblind racial attitudes on intergroup behavior and the pro-sociality of recognizing race and racism within increasingly diverse settings such as the workplace or educational settings.

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To promote learning and academic success among undergraduates, many colleges and universities offer or require students to participate in high-impact practices, which include first-year seminars, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, service-learning, diversity/global learning, internships, and capstone projects. However, the research findings on the effectiveness of these practices for promoting academic achievement and retention is mixed. Moreover, few studies have examined the link between these practices and student outcomes among international students, and there is reason to believe that international students may face challenges with fully engaging and benefitting from these experiences. The present study explored the relationships between nine high-impact practices and three student success outcomes: college grades, sense of belonging in college, and satisfaction with the overall college experience. Within a sample of 5,800 international students at 15 universities, participation in high-impact practices was occasionally associated with favorable student success outcomes, particularly for academic diversity experiences. However, all of these relationships were modest in size, more than three quarters of the results were nonsignificant, and service-learning was significantly and negatively related to college grades. The findings were highly consistent across student demographics and postsecondary institutions.

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