Cooper-Thomas, HelenaSilvester, JoGreenslade-Yeats, James2026-05-272026-05-272026-05-13Human Relations, ISSN: 0018-7267 (Print); 1741-282X (Online), SAGE Publications. doi: 10.1177/001872672614478410018-72671741-282Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/21262Elites have significant influence on their institutions and therefore whether elite newcomers sink or swim has important ramifications for many stakeholders, including elites’ colleagues, organizations, and wider society. And yet ‘sinking’ seems to be relatively common outcome for elite newcomers, whose high failure rates might suggest a sub-par socialization process. Given this problem, surprisingly little research has investigated how elite newcomers experience and respond to socialization. We address this lack of research through a qualitative study of elite newcomers, specifically new politicians entering a national legislature for the first time. Drawing on interviews and archival data, we illuminate the complex and at times ruthless process of elite newcomer socialization. Specifically, we identify four new socialization challenges that impact elite newcomers and suggest how these can develop socialization tactics theory. We identify reputational vulnerability as a novel motivator, caused by these challenges and compelling elite newcomers to respond. Finally, we reveal a range of protect and promote reputational behaviors elite newcomers use to respond in order to establish and maintain their elite position.© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour1503 Business and Management1608 Sociology1701 PsychologyBusiness & Managementorganizational socializationonboardingnewcomerelitepoliticsparliamentariansJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1177/00187267261447841