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Personality traits were found to be essential to understanding human behaviour including preferred political participation activities and choices (Vecchione & Caprara, 2009). In South Korea, personality traits were found to influence the types of political participation (Ha, Kim & Jo, 2013). In Italy, Gerber, Hurber, Doherty, Dowling, Raso and Ha, (2011) established that the effects of personality traits on participation were moderated by a person‟s level of education and incomes. It was also found that personality traits, and especially extroversion, could predict political participation (Vecchione & Caprar, 2009), and could influence self-reported efficacy beliefs which in turn affect a persons‟ political participation (Vecchione & Caprara, 2009). In Spain, it was established that the effects of personality traits on political participation were mediated by political interest, internal efficacy and the prevailing political concerns (Gallego & Oberski, 2011). In Italy, personality traits were found to influence the way people respond to Get-Out-The-Vote [GOTV] appeals (Gerber, Huber, Doherty, Dowling & Panagopoulo, 2013).

In Italy, personality traits were found to influence people‟s political ideology (Chirumbo & Leone, 2010), attitudes and the type of political participation (Leone, Chirumbolo & Desimoni, 2012), the preferred political platform and the political party candidate (Barbaranelli, Caprara, Vechion & Fraley, 2007). In Canada‟s British Colombia and Quebec, a candidate‟s political interest and a sense of civic duty was found to have a positive relationship with the possibility of participating in voting (Blais & Labbe ST- Vincent, 2011). In Spain, the effects of personality traits on voter turnout were found to be mediated by the cardinal predictors of political participation such as education and income (Mattila, Wass, Sonderlund, Fredriksson, Fadjukoff & Kokko, 2011).

Other studies found that different personality traits, associated with different types of political participation behaviours. For example, extraversion and emotional stability correlated with a range of political participation activities (Chirumbo & Leone, 2010). In South Korea, agreeableness and openness traits were found to respectively correlate with lower or higher participation levels within a broad range of political activities (Ha, Kim & Jo, 2013). In Italy, a study established a relationship between personality traits, specifically extraversion and openness to experience traits and political efficacy (Vecchione & Caprara, 2009). Two studies based on the HEXACO model, honesty-humility trait was found to negatively associate with the right wing political ideology (Chirumbo & Leone, 2010); while honesty-humility and openness to experience traits were found to associate with social political attitudes (Leone, Chirumbolo & Desimoni, 2012). In the United States, negative political messages were found to influence the relationship between a number of big five traits and political participation

behaviours (Weinschenck & Panagopoulos 2014). For example, agreeableness trait was found to associate peaceful political participation behaviours.

Voters‟ electoral choices were found to be influenced by the perceived personality traits of the candidate. Insufficient information about a candidate makes voters to make their electoral choices based on personality traits (Hayes, 2010). In Austria, it was found that voter perceived themselves as more open, more agreeable, more emotionally stable, and more extraverted than the average politician; and that they tend to vote for politicians in whom they perceive personality traits that they ascribe to themselves (Koppensteiner & Stephen 2014). In Italy, politicians were found to score significantly higher on social desirability, extroversion and agreeableness traits compared to the general population; however, when they were compared to general public in neuroticism (emotional stability), conscientiousness and openness to experience Traits, they scored significantly lower (Caprara, Barbarnelli, Consiglio, Picconi & Zimbardo, 2003).

On the distribution of perceived political efficacies, a study found that citizenship status and the duration of naturalization among the members of minority groups associated positively with political efficacy. Also, political efficacy judgments among the minorities varied depending on country of origin, the population size of the minority subgroup, and the extent to which members of the minority group are involved in regional politics. Thirdly, minority community members had a relatively lower level of political efficacy compared to members of the mainstream community (Michelson, 2000).

The reviewed literature yielded mixed opinion on how perceived political efficacy relates with political participation. On the role of perceived political

efficacy in politics, McCluskey, Deshpande, Shah and McLeod (2004) found that there was a gap between the perceived and the actual political efficacy and that this political efficacy gap associates negatively with political participation behaviours. In Germany, Finkel (1987) found a reciprocal causal relationship between modes of political participation and perceived political efficacies. On the contrary, In the U.S., Clerk and Acock (1989) found that political participation behaviours did not significantly affect post-election internal and external political efficacies. However, they noted that pre-election internal efficacy appeared to influence post- election external efficacy while pre-election external efficacy did not have effect on post-election internal efficacy. Thus, Clerk and Acock did not find a reciprocal causal relationship between political efficacy and political participation. In Italy, political efficacy attitudes were found to moderate the effects of personality on political participation behaviours (Vecchione & Caprara, 2009). Fu, Mou, Miller and Jalette (2011) found a positive relationship between political information, political efficacy, political cynicism and voting.

It is evident that the reviewed literature was done outside Kenya in particular and Africa in general and focuses on the relationship between the independent variable and political participation. This study was done in Kenya and focuses on the relationship between personality traits, perceived political efficacy judgements and electoral outcomes among female contestants in Kenya.