Social entrepreneurship is a planned behaviour and rapidly gaining its importance in society. This complex process can be understood by studying intention which is the single best predictor of subsequent behaviour. It helps in understanding the reasons behind the actions undertaken and the manner in which potential entrepreneurs decide and act to achieve their social entrepreneurial goals. One of the major reasons of studying intention is its empirically proven psychological models. Such general intention models provide base for the development of intention models of social entrepreneurship. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study this process in an organised manner, as various other variables are also getting introduced. The paper clarifies this evolution process and categorises the main areas of knowledge used to explain different aspects of entrepreneurial intention to start a social venture. The classification of variables is done on the basis of three ecosystems of socio-ecological model introduced by Urie Bronfenbrenner in 1970s namely, individual, social, contextual/situational factors. Hence, this study attracts the attention of academic community, who are at the initial level of research or seeking foundational knowledge about this subject. However, it was difficult to include every variable which predict social entrepreneurial intention in an individual.