The paper addresses the lack of an integrative model linking narrative to human adaptation, despite its widespread recognition across disciplines. Narratives, defined as reports of real or imagined events structured to convey relationships among events, particularly temporal ones, serve both social-interactional and cognitive-representational functions. Existing literature often focuses on only one of these aspects. The paper proposes a model based on active inference, a theory explaining perception, learning, and action as processes minimizing the difference between expectations and experience. This framework, originally developed in computational neuroscience, has been extended to social and cultural dynamics, encompassing enculturation, conformity to norms, and implicit cultural learning. The authors hypothesize that narrative capacity emerged evolutionarily as a form of information exchange and knowledge sharing, offering cognitive and social advantages by enabling efficient storage and transmission of information about the environment, potential dangers, resources, and collaborative activities. This evolutionary trajectory involved a complex process, from early forms of communication to contemporary, complex narrative forms. The paper focuses on the structural aspects of narrative—coherence and socio-cultural status—rather than specific narrative themes. By re-examining narratives from the perspectives of cognitive schemas, cultural tools, and storytelling practices, the authors aim to integrate these approaches under the umbrella of active inference, demonstrating the complementary nature of narrative's cognitive and social functions. The ultimate goal is to use the active inference framework to create a more complete theory of narrative's adaptive functions at both individual and group levels, guiding future research in adaptive behavior and psychopathology.

The paper reviews existing literature on narratives from several perspectives. In personality and developmental psychology, narratives are viewed as cognitive schemas used to interpret, reason about, and evaluate actions and situations. Two lines of research are examined: narratives of specific events and autobiographical narratives, or life stories, which organize events into meaningful themes. The authors also consider narratives as cultural tools in social psychology (master narratives) and storytelling practices in anthropology and philosophy. The review shows that structural aspects of narrative, such as coherence, are linked to the principles of active inference. In cognitive psychology, research highlights the role of narratives in event segmentation, episodic memory (recollection of past events), and episodic future projection (imagination of future events). In social psychology, the literature on storytelling practices and master narratives demonstrates narrative's contribution to cultural transmission and identity formation. The authors argue that these functions are complementary and can be unified using the active inference framework. This perspective emphasizes the functional overlap between cognitive schemas and cultural tools, and between individual and collective levels of narrative use.

The paper's methodology is a theoretical review and synthesis of existing literature on narrative and active inference. The authors do not conduct new empirical research but rather integrate existing findings from various disciplines into a coherent theoretical framework. The approach is primarily conceptual, analyzing and interpreting existing data and theories to develop a novel model of narrative function. The authors start by providing a brief overview of active inference, focusing on its core principles of prediction error minimization and generative models. They explain how active inference extends beyond perception to encompass action selection, outlining the processes involved in perception, learning, and action selection within this framework. They then review literature on narrative from various disciplines, highlighting the functions of narrative in memory, identity formation, and social interaction. The central methodological tool is the application of active inference principles to analyze and interpret existing findings on narrative. The authors systematically examine how various aspects of narrative (e.g., event segmentation, episodic memory, future projections, storytelling practices, enculturation, master narratives) fit within the active inference framework. The paper does not use statistical analysis of data but relies on qualitative analysis of theoretical concepts and empirical findings to support its claims. The analysis uses a comparative approach, contrasting and integrating different views of narrative to build a unified model. Illustrations and examples are provided throughout the paper to clarify the application of the active inference framework to specific aspects of narrative.

The paper's main finding is an integrative model of narrative function based on the principles of active inference. This model proposes that a primary adaptive function of narratives is to generate more accurate and parsimonious predictions, both individually and collectively. Key aspects of this model include: 1. **Narratives as cognitive schemas:** Narratives function as cognitive schemas, facilitating efficient representation and processing of information about past and future events. Event narratives, structuring past and future events into meaningful units, improve episodic memory and future projections. Narrative identity, integrating life experiences into coherent themes, enhances the generative model of the self, increasing predictability and reducing internal conflict. 2. **Narratives as active inference:** The model argues that narratives facilitate active inference by reducing prediction error. Coherent narratives minimize uncertainty by providing consistent expectations, while meaning-making processes, driven by unexpected events, update the generative model to incorporate new knowledge. 3. **Socio-cultural narratives:** Narratives operate as social practices, embedded in cultural contexts. Storytelling practices shape shared attention and cultural cues, guiding action and facilitating mutual prediction within groups. Master narratives, widely shared predictive models of behavior and life trajectories, synchronize expectations and enhance social cohesion. Alternative narratives, challenging master narratives, increase individual predictive accuracy, even if they result in greater prediction error for others. The model integrates various aspects of narrative, showing how they contribute to efficient prediction and adaptation. The integration of cognitive and social functions of narratives is emphasized, highlighting the complementary roles of individual and collective processes. The model explains the positive relationship between coherent narratives and well-being, linking narrative coherence to improved predictive processing. The model also accounts for maladaptive consequences of negative narratives, highlighting the potential for self-fulfilling prophecies and the resistance to change stemming from accurate yet negative predictive models. The model explains the evolutionary emergence and persistence of narratives, showing their value in enhancing prediction and adaptation in dynamically changing environments.

The proposed active inference model of narrative addresses the research question by providing a unifying framework for understanding the diverse cognitive and social functions of narratives. The model's significance lies in its ability to integrate previously disparate perspectives on narrative, showing how cognitive schemas, cultural tools, and storytelling practices all contribute to improved predictive processing. The model explains the adaptive value of narrative coherence and meaning, highlighting their role in reducing uncertainty and facilitating both individual and collective action. The results are relevant to various fields, including psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience, offering a mechanistic understanding of how narratives contribute to adaptation and well-being. The model also addresses maladaptive narratives, offering insights into the persistence of negative self-views and the challenges of changing ingrained expectations. The model has implications for understanding the relationship between narrative and psychopathology, providing a framework for developing targeted interventions. By providing a formal model of narrative function, the research opens new avenues for empirical investigation, especially for exploring how narratives' predictive validity changes across time and contexts.

This paper presents a novel framework integrating cognitive and social functions of narratives under the active inference framework, proposing that narratives primarily serve to improve prediction. It integrates existing research from various disciplines, offering a mechanistic model of narrative's contribution to both individual and collective adaptation. Future research should focus on empirically testing the predictive validity of narratives across different timescales and contexts, particularly investigating the interplay between past and future narratives in shaping identity and influencing adaptation. Further investigation into the adaptive value and consequences of both positive and negative narratives, as well as the processes of narrative updating in dynamic environments, is also warranted.

The paper's primary limitation is its reliance on a theoretical review and synthesis of existing research rather than the collection and analysis of new empirical data. While the authors comprehensively integrate various perspectives on narrative and active inference, the model's empirical support relies on the validity and generalizability of the studies cited. Additionally, the model focuses primarily on the predictive functions of narratives, potentially overlooking other crucial aspects, such as their aesthetic, emotional, or moral functions. Future work could address these limitations by conducting empirical studies to directly test the proposed model and investigate the multifaceted roles of narratives in human experience.