Intention and ability as predictors of change in adult daughters' prosocial behavior towards their mothers.

Change in help given by adult daughters to her mothers was investigated on the basis of the theory of planned behavior. At least three weeks before daughters gave self-reports of their helping behavior, the following predictor variables were measured by questionnaire: Intention to help, ability and resources to help as indicators of behavioral control, social norms, subjective norms, perceived justification of mother's needs, and several demographic variables. Each variable, including the behavioral criterion, was assessed thrice with a 9-months delay between two adjacent times of measurement. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test different change models and to estimate change-effect parameters (264<N<308). Accordant to the theory of planned behavior, change in helping behavior was found to depend substantially on intention to help and on behavioral control. Change in behavioral control was affected by the distance between daughter's home and mother's home as well as by perceived justification of mother's needs. Change in intention to help could be predicted from justification of mother's needs, behavioral control, and quality of the relationship between daughter and mother. Each of these change effects was found to hold for the two 9-months delays as well as for the 18-months delay.