The unnarrated self: Meaning and motivation without self-stories

Scholars have written extensively about self-narratives, paying particular attention to how they help or hinder well-being. The underlying view is that, while some self-narrative structures and content serve people better than others, self-narratives are pervasive and necessary for numerous positive life outcomes, notably meaning and motivation. Without disputing that many people have self-narratives and benefit from them in these ways, we propose that others may abandon self-narratives in favor of less storied, but potentially no less meaningful or motivated, ways of being. To clarify life without self-narratives, we first consider why one might wish to abandon them, noting that some may find them inauthentic, self-absorbed, superfluous, or impediments to change. Next, we consider how one might avoid self-narratives and adopt an unnarrated self. In particular, we present embracing arbitrary commitment and orienting toward the present as approaches to experience that can facilitate an unnarrated self of meaning and motivation. Our overarching contention is that, despite its assumed ubiquity, the practice of telling ourselves stories about ourselves-even the best versions of those stories-is not always necessary or helpful. For some, abstaining from such stories may afford a richer and more viable connection to experience, fulfillment, and committed action. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).