Seeing change through others' eyes: Meta‐beliefs and willingness to participate in a restorative programme in prison

Abstract Purpose The present study examines whether incarcerated individuals' meta‐malleability, the belief that others perceive them as capable of change, predicts support for restorative justice (RJ), and which emotional mechanisms moderate this influence. Moving beyond prior work on self‐perceptions, we foreground a social‐reflective lens that considers how perceived societal views shape offenders' emotions and restorative orientation. Methods A survey was administered to 173 male inmates in four prisons. Participants completed measures of meta‐malleability, support for RJ and three candidate mediators: shame, guilt and responsibility‐taking. Results Correlational analyses indicated that higher meta‐malleability was associated with stronger support for RJ and with greater guilt and responsibility. Mediation analyses showed that guilt and, most robustly, responsibility‐taking significantly mediated the meta‐malleability–RJ association. While positively correlated with RJ support, shame was not a significant mediator. Conclusions The findings identify perceived societal attitudes as a key correlate of inmates' emotional readiness for restorative processes. Conceptually, the results suggest that effective rehabilitation may require not only intrapersonal change but also shifts in the ‘social mirror’ through which offenders interpret and assess their capacity for change. Practically, prison‐based RJ preparation that highlights constructive community signals and fosters responsibility‐taking may enhance engagement with RJ.