Intention is the cognitive representation of a person’s readiness to perform a
given behaviour, and it is considered to be the immediate antecedent of behaviour.
This intention is determined by three factors:
i) attitudes (considered as beliefs that a person accumulates over his lifetime),
ii) subjective norms(beliefs about what others will think about behaviour) and,
iii) perceived behavioural control(refers to people’s perceptions of their ability to perform a given behaviour).
As
a general rule,
the more favourable
the attitude and the subjective
norm,
and the
greater
the perceived
control, the stronger the person’s
intention
should be to perform
the behaviour
in question.
Intention
is measured as the probability,
rated by
the
subject
itself, that s/he will perform
the behaviour.