A social-psychological theory of alienation of the individual from society, as well as its opposite, identification of the individual with society, was presented and a cross-cultural comparison of alienness was undertaken. The theoretical portion of the study was an attempt to clarify certain semantical problems in the classical and empirical traditions of alienation literature which, in turn, created major substantive issues that kept these two traditions divided. The result of this division has been that the major proposition of alienation theory, namely that the transition of society from a traditional-type to a modern-type has brought about widespread alienation, has never been adequately investigated. With the theoretical clarifications and solutions in place, certain key propositions, including the major proposition, were tested. The propositions in general were accepted with certain qualifications, but it was found that alienation occurred in traditional as well as in modern society.