2.3) Negative Feedback Loops

The other possible configuration of a feedback loop has one positive and one negative causal link:

In this case, an increase in A will cause a decrease in B, which in turn will decrease A. The feedback loop acts in the opposite direction of the original change, it is a Negative Feedback Loop. These kind of processes tends to balance the system and inhibit movement away from an equilibrium point.

Positive and negative feedback loops are the two basic forms of causal loop diagrams. Causal loop diagrams can be enormously complex but will always be composed of a combination of these loops.