In this ambitious book, Jaan Valsiner argues for a theoretical integration of two long-standing approaches to personality theory: the individualistic tradition of personalistic psychology, typified by the work of William Stern and Gordon Allport, and the semiotic tradition of cultural-historical psychology, typified by the work of L. S. Vygotsky.

construction of life courses. "The Guided Mind" shows the fundamental unities in the vastly diverse phenomenon of human personality.