Brief Affect and Emotion Recognition Test: Development of an Original and Culture-Specific Measurement Tool

Culture plays a prominent role in recognition and rating of emotions. This study aims to develop a standardized measurement tool specific to Türkiye for assessing affect and recognizing emotions. The tool is designed to be brief and practical for use as a bedside test in clinical settings.

Data were collected from 610 university students (psychology majors). The scale consisted of 500 black-and-white photographs taken under standard conditions by a professional photographer, depicting seven emotions (anxiety, fear, anger, joy, surprise, disgust, and sadness). Through four selection/elimination stages, the initial 500 photographs were reduced to 22. Expert opinions were gathered to assess the content validity of the test. Item reliability was assessed using the test-retest method, and the reliability coefficient was calculated using the Gwet AC1 technique. Following these stages, the final 20 photographs formed the Brief Affect and Emotion Recognition Test (BAET).

The normative emotion recognition percentages for the 20 items ranged between 42.2% and 95.6%. Normative affect intensity scores ranged from 2.3 to 4.8. The Gwet AC1 reliability coefficient of the BAET was calculated as 73.2.

In this study, a culture-specific test was developed to measure affect and emotion recognition processes, and its content validity and reliability were assessed. The findings indicate that the Brief Affect and Emotion Recognition Test (BAET) is a valid and reliable measurement tool, introducing a brief and practical test to the field.