(PS4-41) Accuracy and Difficulty of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task Across Racial Groups: An Assessment of the Other-race Effect

Abstract Text: Research conducted over multiple decades provides evidence that participants are more successful in identifying emotional expressions on faces of their same race than faces of other races, a phenomenon termed the other-race effect. This has been widely studied in emotion recognition tasks, but rarely assessed in more complex tasks, such as those assessing theory of mind. In particular, the presence of the other-race effect in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is under-researched. This is important as the RMET is widely-used and includes only White-presenting stimuli. Therefore, this study sought to assess differences in performance and perceived difficulty between participants from different racial groups on the RMET. This study involved two samples, both recruited from a large southern university. In sample 1, undergraduates (n = 2,019) completed an online survey including the RMET and demographic information. In sample 2, a second sample of undergraduates (n = 200) were recruited to complete the RMET online with additional novel questions to assess the perceived difficulty of each RMET item, as well as demographic information. Participants identifying as White (Estimated Mean = 24.49, SE = .14), Asian (Estimated Mean = 23.55, SE = .87), or a race other than those provided (i.e., “other race;” Estimated Mean = 24.86, SE = .50) performed significantly better on the RMET than Black participants (Estimated Mean = 21.27, SE = .23; ps < .01). No differences in perceived difficulty were found between racial majority and minority groups (ps > .05), yet, across the sample, greater perceived difficulty was associated with poorer performance (r = .21, p < .01). This study provides evidence that the other-race effect may be relevant for participants completing the RMET and that Black participants may be at a particular disadvantage. Caution should be used when interpreting racial differences in RMET scores. Further, efforts should be made to develop and prioritize administration of more diverse and less biased assessments of theory of mind.