The evolution of an integrative systems account of belonging

Abstract

Note. This figure traces the cumulative development of four related accounts of belonging. Stage 1 locates belonging within nested biological and individual, relational and institutional, community and environmental, and cultural and ecological systems. Stage 2 depicts belonging as varying from low to high as conditions across these systems combine and change. Stage 3 presents competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions as four interacting antecedents of belonging within context and experience. Stage 4 expands the synthesis by making agency, individual differences, context, time, and belonging as a human need and right explicit. Clockwise arrows show the sequence of conceptual development. Fine connector lines indicate ideas retained within the cumulative account, while the open arrow denotes continuing development. The surrounding boundary locates the model within wider belonging research and broader social, cultural, environmental, historical, structural, and temporal conditions. The figure presents a conceptual synthesis and proposed relationships rather than empirically established causal pathways. Conceptually adapted and synthesised from Allen and Kern (2017), Allen (2020), Allen et al. (2021), and Allen (2025). The visual rendering of this figure was produced using OpenAI’s image-generation tool in ChatGPT on 8 September 2026, based on detailed author instructions concerning its content, structure, and wording. The author developed the conceptual synthesis, directed the design, reviewed the output, and retains responsibility for the figure’s theoretical and textual accuracy. Generative AI was used for visual rendering only and did not generate or validate the underlying models or theoretical claims.