Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS): Adaptation in a Sample of Medical Students and Healthcare Professionals, Psychometric Evaluation

Background. The increasing integration of robotics into various aspects of human life and activity inevitably raises the issue of attitudes towards robots. One of the areas of research is the study of emotional states during human-robot interaction. The lack of tools for diagnosing attitudes toward robots in Russian psychology determined the relevance of this work—the adaptation of the RAS questionnaire on a Russian-speaking sample. Objective. The article presents a study that aims to adapt and establish psychometric indicators of the RAS robot anxiety scale on a Russian-speaking sample. Study Participants. The study encompassed 289 participants, comprising medical university students from various specialties and practicing doctors from clinical and epidemiological fields. The age of respondents ranged from 18 to 58 years (Mage = 26.7 years; SD = 10.9; 74% women). Methods. The study conducted a survey of respondents using two questionnaires: the Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS) for communication, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and Cronbach’s α coefficient to process the data. Results. The structure of the adapted Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS) is similar to the original version and incorporates three scales of anxiety: one for the robot’s communicative capabilities, another for the robot’s behavioural characteristics, and a third for the individual’s ability to communicate with the robot. The scales showed a sufficient consistency (Cronbach’s α value varied from 0.759 to 0.830). Conclusions. The reliability and validity of the adapted Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS) were confirmed. The scale’s psychometric indicators align with the outcomes of previous scale modifications, making it suitable for research applications.