Research on negative ties has focused primarily on the harm they do. In this paper, we show
that negative ties can also have beneficial effects. We argue that, like positive ties, negative
ties can link actors together in the minds of observers. As a result, we theorize that negative
ties with high-status actors can benefit a focal actor, whereas negative ties with low-status
actors can harm the focal actor. This prismatic effect depends on the existing status of the
focal actor: a focal actor of low status is likely to benefit far more from negative ties with high …