Professor Knee is interested in the ways that individuals' "implicit theories" of relationships influence how they perceive, initiate, and maintain romantic relationships; the nature and function of self-esteem that is contingent upon one's relationship; the benefits of feeling autonomous rather than coerced in one's relationship; and how motivation orientations influence interpersonal defensiveness and health-related behavior, including self-serving bias, self-handicapping, defensive coping, binge drinking, driving anger.