What best describes the relationship between negative reinforcements and behavior?

Negative reinforcement is a concept in behavioral psychology that refers to the process of strengthening a behavior by removing or reducing an aversive stimulus when the behavior is exhibited. When an individual engages in a behavior that results in the removal of something unpleasant, the likelihood of that behavior being repeated increases in the future.

For example, if a student studies hard to avoid getting a bad grade, the removal of the anxiety associated with potentially failing acts as a negative reinforcer. This removal reinforces the studying behavior, making it more likely that the student will continue to study hard in the future to avoid the negative consequence.

The other options do not accurately reflect the effects of negative reinforcement on behavior. Negative reinforcement does not make behavior less likely to recur, nor does it have no effect on behavior or apply only to negative behaviors. Instead, it clearly serves to strengthen the desired behavior by removing negative stimuli associated with it.