“Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test”: Development of a Russian-Language Version Expanded for Neuroimaging Applications

Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2026. Vol. 95. No. 6. P. 1048–1057.

Zheltyakova M., Korotkov A., Bursov K., Knyazeva I., Myznikov A., Masharipov R., Moroshkina N., Cherednichenko D., Kireev M.

The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is a widely used tool for assessing affective mentalization in both clinical and research contexts. Although translated into many languages, no validated Russian-language version has been available. Furthermore, the limited number of stimuli in the original RMET constrains its applicability in neuroimaging studies. This study presents an open-access, expanded Russian adaptation of the RMET, suitable for psychological and neurophysiological research. In Study 1, 212 participants completed an online labeling task, from which we selected 144 stimuli with target emotion recognition accuracy of at least 50%. In Study 2, involving 108 participants, the mean accuracy for these stimuli was 71%, with a strong correlation to the results of Study 1. Participants also completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Bayesian modeling revealed that higher TAS-26 and Personal Distress scores predicted lower RMET accuracy, whereas higher Fantasy scores predicted better performance. These relationships were consistent across sexes and aligned with findings from previous research. The results confirm the construct validity of the expanded Russian RMET and support its use for investigating emotion recognition in Russian-speaking populations, particularly in neuroimaging studies requiring increased statistical power.

Keywords: эмпатия, empathy, распознавание эмоций, emotion recognition, модель психического, alexithymia, алекситимия, theory of mind, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, RMET, TOM, affective mentalization, тест чтения эмоций по глазам