What’s the ideal positive vs negative feedback ratio?

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The ideal ratio of positive vs. negative feedback is 5.6 to 1.

The academic research was conducted by Heaphy and Losada.

HBR summarized the main takeaway well here along with a clear descriptive chart below.

The average ratio for the highest-performing teams was 5.6 (that is, nearly six positive comments for every negative one). The medium-performance teams averaged 1.9 (almost twice as many positive comments than negative ones.) But the average for the low-performing teams, at 0.36 to 1, was almost three negative comments for every positive one.