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.
彼は外国人に対して偏見を持っている。
He has a bias against foreigners.
A preconception or preconceived notion that leads to bias, often without realizing it.
先入観を持たずに話を聞いてください。
Please listen without bias.
Inclination or bias, often used in formal or media contexts to describe biased reporting or leaning.
その新聞は政治的に偏向している。
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.
上司は特定の社員をえこひいきしている。
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.
彼はいつも弟の肩を持つ。
He always sides with his younger brother (showing bias).
Bias in data, sampling, or algorithms.
Loanword from English, widely used in statistics, machine learning, and technical contexts.
このデータにはバイアスがかかっている。
This data is biased.
Skew, deviation, or bias in a distribution. More general and can be used in everyday contexts.
Psychological biases like confirmation bias or anchoring bias.
Standard term for cognitive bias in psychology.
確証バイアスは認知バイアスの一種だ。
Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias.
A more explanatory phrase meaning 'thinking bias', used in less technical contexts.
誰にでも思考の偏りはある。
Everyone has cognitive biases.
Media slant or biased coverage.
Biased reporting, a set phrase often used in criticism of media.
その番組は偏向報道だと批判された。
The program was criticized for biased reporting.
A more general phrase meaning 'bias in reporting'.
報道の偏りが問題になっている。
Bias in the media is becoming an issue.
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.
偏見をなくすのは難しい。
It's hard to eliminate prejudice.
先入観で判断しないで。
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.
彼は偏見がある。
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.