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The data in this study show that the degree to which computers have a positive or negative effect upon job characteristics depends upon the relative amounts of time spent at the computing and non‐computing components of a job, the nature of the work done on the computer, and the nature of the work done apart from the computer. The beginnings of a theoretical explanation for the effects of these variables upon job characteristics, and for the finding that different job characteristics are differentially affected by them, are also presented.