偏向

• Pinyin: piān xiàng
• Hanzi breakdown: 偏 = 亻 + 扁 (person + off-centre); 向 = 宀 + 口 (roof + mouth — facing a direction, moving toward)

Meaning

To lean toward; to favour; to be biased in favour of a particular person, group, or viewpoint. Also used as a noun meaning a bias or tendency.

偏向 implies a departure from neutrality or fairness, favouring one side over others. Used in education, politics, design, and emotional contexts. Verbal form: 偏向于; noun forms: 存在偏向, 带有偏向性. The noun sense is stronger in formal and analytical writing.

Examples

1. 裁判的判罚明显偏向主队，引发了客队球员和球迷的强烈不满和抗议。 The referee's calls clearly favored the home team, sparking strong dissatisfaction and protests from the visiting players and fans.
2. 这项政策在资源分配上过于偏向沿海发达城市，内陆地区的发展诉求因此长期得不到充分回应。 This policy is too tilted toward developed coastal cities in how it allocates resources, so the development needs of inland regions have gone unaddressed for a long time.
3. 作为父母，若总是偏向某一个孩子，长远来看对每一个孩子的心理健康都会造成不同程度的影响。 If parents always favor one child, in the long run it will harm every child's mental well-being to varying degrees.

Usage Guide

Context: politics, education, policy, social issues

Tone: critical

Do Say

• 这份调查报告在数据解读上明显偏向有利于资方的结论，研究者的独立性和客观立场因此受到了学界的广泛质疑。(This research report clearly leans toward conclusions favourable to the employer side in its interpretation of data; the researcher's independence and objectivity have consequently been widely questioned by the academic community.)
• 现行的绩效考核体系过于偏向短期财务指标，对员工的长期发展潜力和组织文化贡献缺乏有效的评价维度，亟需系统性改革。(The current performance appraisal system leans too heavily toward short-term financial indicators and lacks effective evaluation dimensions for employees' long-term development potential and cultural contributions to the organisation — systematic reform is urgently needed.)

Don't Say

• 我偏向他 without context — this can be misread as expressing romantic feelings; clarify 在这件事上我偏向他的意见 to specify the domain

Origin & History

偏 (lean to one side, partial) + 向 (toward, direction) — to lean in a particular direction

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal