The Triadic Framework: Integrating Nature, Communities, and Belief Systems into the Self-Concept for Sustained Conservation Action

It can be difficult for people to perform the behaviors necessary to address sustainability challenges because selfish actions are often more appealing than choices that benefit nature and future generations. Although many useful approaches to pro-environmentalism focus on strengthening relatively simple bivariate relations (e.g., nature connectedness and community-based conservation), we propose that more effective outcomes can be realized by combining three mutually reinforcing elements that support sustainability. Specifically, we outline our Triadic Framework, which focuses on the integration of nature, communities, and belief systems with each other and within people’s self-concepts. In addition to emphasizing the shared overlap among these reciprocal elements, this framework stresses that greater integration of one’s sense of self with these elements will heighten personal motivations to perform sustainable actions. Our paper examines (1) the interconnections among nature, communities, and belief systems and (2) how these three elements can be interrelated and enmeshed in people’s self-concepts to produce greater commitment to conservation. Finally, we describe a real-world example of the Triadic Framework used effectively to promote conservation of mature forests in the Western Ghats of India, and we outline ways for others to leverage this framework to address everyday sustainability challenges.