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Personality as predictor of job performance and counterproductive work behaviour. The importance of specificity in personality measurement Personality as predictor of job performance and counterproductive work behaviour. The importance of specificity in personality measurement The main purpose of this study was to improve the prediction of job performance and counterproductive work behavior using personality measurements. Three characteristics were examined: (1) trait specificity, i.e., using narrow rather than broad personality traits; (2) contextual specificity, i.e., the specificity of the situational context to which respondents refer when completing a personality inventory, such as the home or work context; and (3) referent specificity, i.e., the specificity of the comparison other in self-reported personality. The results show that narrow traits are able to explain more variance than broad traits in the prediction of work outcomes, and that adding a relevant context to personality items leads to higher predictive validities. Furthermore, the findings suggest that using reference groups influences the way people respond to a personality test. Taken together, this article accentuates the importance of specificity in personality measurement for improving the prediction of work outcomes.