A longitudinal survey of 114 parent and post-adolescent child dyads from rural Thailand is analyzed in terms of their attitudes and behavior related to circular mobility and the influence of parents on the mobility attitudes and behaviors of their post-adolescent offspring. A literature review justifies a causal model of the attitude-behavior relationship which incorporates parental influence over time.In this particular developing nation we find that parents have virtually no influence on either the attitude toward circular mobility or the circular mobility behavior of their children. The attitude of the children has a small, but statistically significant, effect on their behavior, while their behavior has a stronger effect on their attitude. Attitude toward circular mobility, especially that of parents, is highly unstable. Mobility behavior is highly stable. We suggest that in areas of rapid social change such as developing nations, the family is an ineffective agent of socialization on issues of generational cleavage. The younger generation responds to external social forces of change.