Abstract
<p>Perfectionism has been consistently linked to psychological distress, yet most evidence in the Philippine context relies on cross-sectional designs, limiting temporal conclusions. Licensure examinations in the Philippines, such as the Psychometrician Licensure Examination mandated by Republic Act No. 10029 (2009), represent a high-stakes evaluative context that may amplify perfectionistic tendencies. The present study tested the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism among 315 licensure examination reviewees, examining how Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism (ECP) and Personal Standards Perfectionism (PSP) predicted Time 2 overall distress, anxiety, and depression after a one-month interval. ECP was a significant positive predictor of all three outcomes, whereas PSP was not. Consistent with the 2 × 2 model, Pure PSP did not differ from Non-perfectionism, while Pure ECP and Mixed Perfectionism are associated significantly greater distress, anxiety, and depression than Non-perfectionism and Pure PSP. Notably, Pure ECP and Mixed Perfectionism did not significantly differ, lending support to the aggravating factor hypothesis. These findings underscore that ECP, rather than PSP, drive psychological distress in high-stakes evaluative contexts.</p>