This study aims to understand how engineering mathematics students form intentions in mathematics learning from a socio-psychological perspective. A grounded theory approach was adopted and 21 engineering students and six tutors participated in the study. The main findings in this study show that a student's intention in engineering mathematics learning is made up of a number of sequential components--their critical trigger, internalized significance, aim and perceived intention-related consequences in engineering mathematics learning. Accordingly, the participants may be broadly classified into five types of learners: idealistic learners, competitive learners, pragmatic learners, fatalistic learners and dissonant learners according to their intentions in engineering mathematics learning. (Contains 1 figure and 7 tables.)