Differential Associations of Excellencism and Perfectionism with Mental Health Outcomes Among Licensure Examinees

Objective: Licensure examinees are vulnerable to the mental health consequences of perfectionism. However, previous work did not distinguish the pursuit of high yet attainable standards from the pursuit of exacting, inflexible ones. Guided by the Model of Excellencism and Perfectionism (MEP), this study examined how excellencism and perfectionism are differentially associated with well-being outcomes among Filipino adults preparing for a high-stakes licensure examination.Method: A total of 1,206 psychometrician licensure examinees (Mage = 23.94, SD = 3.58) from two 2025 cohorts participated in the study.Results: Structural equation modelling revealed that excellencism was significantly and positively associated with life satisfaction and positive affect while negatively associated with depression. In contrast, perfectionism was positively associated with negative affect, anxiety and depression. Comparison of predicted values for excellence and perfection strivers show better mental health outcomes for excellence strivers. Conclusions: These findings provide support for the MEP in the licensure examination context, suggesting that some of the desirable outcomes previously associated with perfectionism may be better accounted for by excellencism. The study contributes to the growing literature on excellence- and perfection-oriented goal pursuit and points to their potentially distinct implications for mental health in high-stakes evaluative settings.