What does self-enhancement motives mean? Could you explain? People sometimes make downward social comparisons . comparing themselves to inferior or worse-off others - to feel better about themselves. This is self-enhancement at work. But what happens when the only available comparison target we have is superior or better off than we are? Can self-enhancement motives still be served in such situations? Yes, they can, as captured by the self-evaluation maintenance model. According to this theory, we shift between two processes - reflection and comparison - in a way that lets us maintain favorable self-views. What does self-enhancement motives mean? Could you explain? in this sentence, what does motives refer to and what does they mean?