Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language

Recently, there has been an increase in text analysis and natural language processing for both research and applied practice, especially to quantify emotions in language (i.e. sentiment analysis). Building on different theories of how language and emotions interact and how these interactions differ...

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Main Authors: Steven Zhou, Arushi Srivastava
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2396695
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author Steven Zhou
Arushi Srivastava
author_facet Steven Zhou
Arushi Srivastava
author_sort Steven Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Recently, there has been an increase in text analysis and natural language processing for both research and applied practice, especially to quantify emotions in language (i.e. sentiment analysis). Building on different theories of how language and emotions interact and how these interactions differ by gender and race/ethnicity, our study assesses for bias in the use of common sentiment analysis tools (e.g. AFINN, NRC). Specifically, we focus on measurement bias and predictive bias between genders and races/ethnicities using a novel real-world dataset of participant interviews in a simulated multi-day team-based competition. There was no evidence of measurement bias by race/ethnicity, but there were some biases by gender; specifically, females tended to express higher mean levels and more variance in emotion. There was no evidence of predictive bias by gender or race/ethnicity, though the latter was marginally significant. We hope this study paves the way towards more inclusive and accurate analytical tools to help researchers reduce demographic biases in their research. These findings also hold importance for organizations in employing equitable tools to better understand the needs of their diverse customers and employees.
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spelling doaj-art-324c2bd920f245a4a2c8aec8aa3fd6b12025-08-20T02:22:15ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Psychology2331-19082024-12-0111110.1080/23311908.2024.2396695Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of languageSteven Zhou0Arushi Srivastava1Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USASchool of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, IndiaRecently, there has been an increase in text analysis and natural language processing for both research and applied practice, especially to quantify emotions in language (i.e. sentiment analysis). Building on different theories of how language and emotions interact and how these interactions differ by gender and race/ethnicity, our study assesses for bias in the use of common sentiment analysis tools (e.g. AFINN, NRC). Specifically, we focus on measurement bias and predictive bias between genders and races/ethnicities using a novel real-world dataset of participant interviews in a simulated multi-day team-based competition. There was no evidence of measurement bias by race/ethnicity, but there were some biases by gender; specifically, females tended to express higher mean levels and more variance in emotion. There was no evidence of predictive bias by gender or race/ethnicity, though the latter was marginally significant. We hope this study paves the way towards more inclusive and accurate analytical tools to help researchers reduce demographic biases in their research. These findings also hold importance for organizations in employing equitable tools to better understand the needs of their diverse customers and employees.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2396695Sentiment analysistext analysisemotionlanguagebiasQuantitative Methods
spellingShingle Steven Zhou
Arushi Srivastava
Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
Cogent Psychology
Sentiment analysis
text analysis
emotion
language
bias
Quantitative Methods
title Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
title_full Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
title_fullStr Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
title_full_unstemmed Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
title_short Investigating gender and racial-ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
title_sort investigating gender and racial ethnic biases in sentiment analysis of language
topic Sentiment analysis
text analysis
emotion
language
bias
Quantitative Methods
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2396695
work_keys_str_mv AT stevenzhou investigatinggenderandracialethnicbiasesinsentimentanalysisoflanguage
AT arushisrivastava investigatinggenderandracialethnicbiasesinsentimentanalysisoflanguage