Traditionally, self-enhancement and self-verification are seen as competing motives. This presumption has typically resulted in tests of people's preference between them rather than an examination of their unique effects. The current study seeks to differentiate between the effects of self-enhancement and self-verification for measures of individual self-esteem and trust in one's spouse. Results indicate that separate unique effects do exist on self-esteem for wives, but only an effect for self-verification was found for husbands. In contrast, neither variable was found to exert an effect on wives' or husbands' trust in their spouse. The theoretical implications of these findings, along with some potential limitations, are discussed.