Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test: A first approximation to the psychometric properties in the Peruvian Population

Theory of mind (ToM) is a central cognitive process of social cognition, with great importance in neuroscience and neuropsychiatric disorders. One method used to evaluate advanced ToM in adults is the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), which despite being widely known in Peru, still lacks standardized and adequately validated measures for its application in the clinical area and not clinical. Objectives: 1. Explore the psychometric properties of RMET in Peruvians, as well as the percentage of precision for each item among the different versions of the RMET; 2. Evaluate the test-retest reliability after one year of follow-up. Two hundred eighty-eight participants between 17 and 55 years old, of both sexes, were recruited. Results: The RMET shows a medium validity and consistency according to the KR-20, Cronbach's Alpha, and Omega tests (0.645 - 0.666). Women perform better than men (p <0.041*), and scores remain stable after one year of follow-up. Conclusions: The RMET shows good psychometric properties, similar to other versions and different countries, with women showing better mental capacity.