Race & Ethnicity

Guidelines for Avoiding Racial/Ethnic Bias in Language

Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs and Publications and Communications Board
American Psychological Association

"APA as an organization is committed both to science and to the fair treatment of individuals and groups, ...[and] authors of journal articles are required to avoid writing in a manner that reinforces questionable attitudes and assumptions about people" (APA, 1983, p. 43).

The current edition of APA's Publication Manual advises authors on the use of nonsexist language. The next edition will contain an expanded section on using language that is free as well of racial or ethnic bias, heterosexism, bias toward people with disabilities, ageism, and other kinds of bias.

The Guidelines for Avoiding Racial/Ethnic Bias that follow constitute one of the working papers that will be used in the development of this expanded section. This working paper was prepared jointly by the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs and the Publications and Communications Board of the APA.

It is critical that the science and practice of psychology adequately describe its research participants and clientele. Demographic variables, such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, and so forth, are important in a host of psychological and behavioral phenomena. Adequacy of designation is essential if comparisons are to be made across groups or if the potential exists for such comparisons in replications, literature reviews, or secondary data analyses. When relevant to the investigation, authors should report the results of analyses examining the role of these demographic variables.

It may also be necessary to indicate the group membership of the investigator or author when that membership could influence the responses of subjects or the author's interpretations. Similarly, when referring to women or minority groups, authors should avoid the passive voice, subordinate clauses, and the "understood" subject. The passive voice suggests individuals are acted on rather than being actors (e.g., the students were given the survey). Subordinate clauses can suggest that persons are viewed as incidental (e.g., The experiment, with the 25 subjects, lasted one hour). By using the "understood" subject, authors assume readers know the subjects without naming them directly (e.g., The students were from the inner city).

General Principles

Authors must avoid language that may intentionally or unintentionally reflect racial and ethnic bias. Biased language involves problems of designation and problems of explicit or implicit evaluation.

Problems of Designation

The problems of racial/ethnic designation are twofold: Authors must determine when to report these descriptions and how to refer to ethnic minority samples or other special interest groups. Researchers must determine the extent to which their investigation should report real or potential racial/ethnic variation. When such variation exists, racial/ethnic factors should be reported in theoretical and empirical aspects of the research. Reporting the racial/ethnic composition of research participants in these investigations is also necessary for determining the generalizability of results. When racial/ethnic variables are unimportant to the investigation, authors should state the basis for this assumption.

Perhaps more difficult is the selection of appropriate terminology to describe racially and ethnically diverse people. Name designations of racial/ethnic groups change over time, and members of a group may disagree about their preferred name at a specific time. When possible, authors should use the more specific rather than the less specific term (e.g., Choctaws is more specific than American Indian; Cubans is more specific than Hispanic).

When it is important for the interpretation of results, authors should report subjects' national origin, generation, language preference and use, and geographical locale. For example, in a study of Japanese Americans, the percentage of subjects who are first, second, or third generation, along with language preference and use in each generational group, may need to be reported.

Where necessary, the composition of heterogeneous groups (multi-racial/ethnic, multinational, etc.) should be detailed. In other instances, the author may need to report the mixed ancestral heritage of individual subjects.

If a language other than English is used in the collection of information, the language should be specified. When an instrument is translated into another language, the specific method of translation should be described (e.g., in "back translation," language is translated from one language to another and then back to the first, in an interactive process).

Racial/ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. When names of colors are used to refer to human groups, they are capitalized (e.g., Blacks instead of blacks; Whites instead of whites). Hyphens are not used in multiword labels (e.g., Mexican Americans instead of Mexican-Americans).

Authors are encouraged to write in accordance with the principles of cultural relativism, that is, perceiving, understanding, and writing about individuals in their own terms. Thus, indigenous self-designations are as important as designations by others, although authors must be cognizant of the fact that members of different groups may disagree about their appropriate group designation and that these designations may change over time.

Problems of Evaluation

Problems of implicit or explicit evaluation of racial/ethnic difference arise from a number of sources. Bias may occur when the writer uses one group (usually the writer's own group) as the standard against which others are evaluated. The term culturally deprived, for example, implies that one culture is the accepted standard against which others are judged. Authors should recognize that differences arising from racial/ethnic comparisons do not imply deficits.

More subtle forms of implicit group comparisons may occur by the use of adjectives (i.e., stereotypes) to apply to most or all members of a group. Stereotypes may be positive (e.g., intelligent, industrious, superior, attractive) or negative (e.g., sinister, violent, lazy, superstitious). Qualifying adjectives, even when positive, may communicate bias (whether intentional or unintentional). For example, the phrase "the intelligent Black student" may imply that this student is an "exception to the rule."

Problematic and Preferred Examples

These general principles and the examples that follow illustrate the subtle ways that language may intentionally or unintentionally create or convey intergroup attitudes. Authors should recognize the changing nature of language and remain current in terms of appropriate and inappropriate terminology for their situation.

Problems of Designation

1. PROBLEMATIC: The sample included 400 undergraduate students
   PREFERRED: The sample of 400 undergraduate students included 250 Whites (125 males and 125 females) and 150 Blacks (75 males and 75 females).

   Comment: When relevant, human subject samples should be fully described with respect to gender and race or ethnicity. Where appropriate, additional information should be presented (e.g., generation, linguistic background, socioeconomic status, national origin, sexual orientation, special interest group membership, etc.).

2. PROBLEMATIC: The 50 American Indians
   PREFERRED: The 50 American Indians represented…(25 Choctaw, 15 Hopi, and 10 Seminole)…

   Comment: When possible, authors should identify American Indian groups by specific or nation. Although there are some exceptions, American Indians, Africans, and other groups prefer people or nation to tribe.

Problems of Evaluation

3. PROBLEMATIC: …the articulate Mexican American professor…
   PREFERRED: …the Mexican American professor…

   Comment: Qualifying adjectives may subtly suggest that the "articulate" Mexican American professor is an exception to the norm (for Mexican American professors).

Reference

American Psychological Association. (1983). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Return to top

Electronic Media and URLs
Electronic Media Spelling Guide

Removing Bias in Language
Disabilities
Sexuality
Race & Ethnicity