The Relational Foundations of Conservation Psychology

Abstract

Abstract

At its heart, conservation psychology is concerned with relationships—those between humans and the natural world. However, the assumptions that psychologists make about relationships can have profound implications for the way we theorize about, empirically investigate, and intervene in relationships between humans and the natural world. To demonstrate these implications, we describe two basic ways to understand relationships, individualistic relationality and strong relationality, and their respective implications for conservation psychology. For individualistic relationality, relationships consist of fundamentally individual self-contained parts that merely interact with one another, whereas for strong relationality, relationships are at the ontological foundation of identity and existence. To more fully explicate strong relationality, we draw upon the writings of farmer, writer, and conservationist Wendell Berry. We argue that strong relationality, though it is less familiar and often overlooked in psychology, provides a framework for conservation psychology that uniquely fits many of the goals of conservation psychology (e.g., caring and harmonious relationships with nature). Likewise, we contend that strong relationality approaches research and intervention with particular sensitivity to the subject matter of conservation psychology, and we offer several illustrative examples. Finally, we suggest that qualitative methods, especially indigenous methodologies, are particularly important for advancing a strongly relational conservation psychology.