In order to give the psychological conception of alienation greater cogency relative to the influence of sociological alienation, research is needed that ties alienation attitudes to individual personal behavior. It was hypothesized that the stronger the alienation attitudes of people, the weaker will be their exploratory behavior. Thus, alienation attitudes (vegetativeness, nihilism, powerlessness, and adventurousness) are maladaptive because they interfere with simple curiosity about unfamiliar environments. To test this hypothesis, subjects were observed while waiting in an unfamiliar room furnished as an office; they then completed a questionnaire yielding measures of alienation attitudes. Analysis of the data showed that alienation attitudes inhibited exploration of the room, even after intelligence, neuroticism, age, sex, and extraversion-introversion were controlled. Findings suggest that alienation attitudes appear to represent a human handicap, since exploration is necessary not only for development but also for survival. (Author/CS)