Negative (antagonistic) connections have been of longstanding theoretical importance for social structure. In a population of 24,696 adults interacting face to face within 176 isolated villages in western Honduras, we measured all connections that were present, amounting to 105,175 positive and 16,448 negative ties. Here, we show that negative and positive ties exhibit many of the same structural characteristics. We then develop a complete taxonomy of all 138 possible triads of two-type relationships. Consistent with balance theory, we find that antagonists of friends and friends of antagonists tend to be antagonists; but, in an important empirical refutation of balance theory, we find that antagonists of antagonists also tend to be antagonists, not friends. Finally, villages with comparable levels of animosity tend to be geographically proximate. Similar processes, involving social contact, give rise to both positive and negative social ties in rural villages, and negative ties play an important role in social structure.

中文翻译：

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乡村网络中负面社会纽带的结构。

消极（对抗）联系对社会结构具有长期的理论重要性。在洪都拉斯西部176个偏僻村庄中，面对面交流的24,696个成年人口中，我们测量了所有存在的联系，共计105,175个正向联系和16,448个负向联系。在这里，我们显示出负向和正向联系表现出许多相同的结构特征。然后，我们针对所有138种可能的三态关系建立完整的分类法。与平衡理论相一致，我们发现朋友的朋友和朋友的朋友往往是对手。但是，在对平衡理论的一个重要的经验反驳中，我们发现，反对者的反对者也往往是反对者，而不是朋友。最后，敌意程度可比的村庄往往在地理位置上最接近。