Negative Ions have a positive effect on people. Positive Ions have a negative effect on people. An atom that has one of its normal orbiting electrons removed is called a Positive Ion. An atom with an extra electron added is called a negative Ion. So you seem it’s really kind of backwards; the terms Negative and Positive are actually reversed. It’s a misnomer that we can thank Benjamin Franklin for (so we hear). Back in his time, electrons (with a ”negative” charge) and atoms were not understood correctly. So we’re still stuck with this 18th century terminology, and that’s why they’re called ‘Negative Ions”.