We attempt to answer this question in several ways. We argue that those who grow in affective commitment may do so because they encountered qualitatively different kinds of work experiences or because they are different types of people. With “qualitatively different” work experiences, we mean the possibility that some motivating work experiences (such as being the right person for the job, having challenging tasks, or being promoted) explain growth, while straining work experiences, such as role overload, may be more explanatory for decline in affective commitment. Concerning personal factors, we expected that older age and work centrality would enhance newcomers' propensity for growing commitment.