Translation guide
This entry covers how to express the idea of bias in Japanese, including prejudice, unfair preference, statistical skew, and cognitive bias. It is organized by the specific meaning you want to convey.
Expressing a personal or societal prejudice, unfair leaning, or discriminatory attitude.
The most common and direct word for prejudice or biased view against a person or group.
He has a bias against foreigners.
A preconception or preconceived notion that leads to bias, often without realizing it.
Please listen without bias.
Inclination or bias, often used in formal or media contexts to describe biased reporting or leaning.
That newspaper is politically biased.
Showing unfair preference toward a person, group, or idea.
Favoritism, especially in a personal or workplace context. Often used for biased treatment.
The boss is biased toward certain employees.
Kanji form of えこひいき, rarely used in writing but same meaning.
To side with someone, to take someone's side, implying bias in a dispute.
He always sides with his younger brother (showing bias).
Bias in data, sampling, or algorithms.
Psychological biases like confirmation bias or anchoring bias.
Media slant or biased coverage.
偏見 (へんけん) is a stronger, often negative prejudice against a group. 先入観 (せんにゅうかん) is a preconception that may not be malicious but still leads to biased judgment. Use 偏見 for discrimination, 先入観 for assumptions.
It's hard to eliminate prejudice.
Don't judge based on preconceptions.
バイアス is mainly used in technical, statistical, or academic contexts. For personal prejudice or favoritism, use 偏見 or えこひいき instead. Saying 彼はバイアスがある sounds unnatural.
He is prejudiced.
依怙贔屓はよくない。
Favoritism is not good.
サンプルに偏りがある。
There is a bias in the sample.