Is the word 'provoke' used for negative purpose only?
Provoke would be a universally dual verb. It may be used for negative impact on a subject, and may also have a positive placement on any given subject. A positive example would be, "The lady I see every morning strangely provokes me to make each and every day somehow extraordinarily purposeful for at least one person". Negative of course "Just looking at her standing there strongly provokes me to curse her out".