The Negative Side of the Social Ledger: A Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Negative Networks

We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effects of negative social relationships on both positive and negative individual and group outcomes. Building from social ledger theory we hypothesize that negative social ties will be negatively related to positive outcomes and positively related to negative outcomes. The meta-analytic results provided support for the hypothesized zero-order relationships, as the magnitude of the correlations of negative relationships with positive outcomes (n = -0.21) and negative outcomes (n = 0.25) were relatively modest. Additionally, we investigate and find support for moderators surrounding the type of negative tie analyzed, the centrality position used, and other social network related methodological moderators. Our findings generally indicate that negative network ties hinder positive outcomes while increasing the number of negative outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of social networks as well as for practice.