*3.2. Preliminary Analyses*

The means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients for main research variables are displayed in Table 1. The results indicated that both objective and subjective social class were positively correlated with perceived control, and those three variables above were all negatively correlated with the need for structure.



Note: *N* = 837; \* *p* < 0.05, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001; *M* = mean; *SD* = standard deviation.

#### *3.3. Mediating Effect of Perceived Control (Objective Social Class as Independent Variable)*

Mediating effect analysis in PROCESS [44] was used to test the mediation effect using 1000 bootstrapped samples. Figure 2 displays the paths in the proposed model. Objective social class positively predicted perceived control (*b* = 0.24, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = 7.03, *p* < 0.001) and negatively predicted need for structure (*b* = −0.06, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = −2.18, *p* = 0.03). When we added objective social class and perceived control to the model simultaneously, perceived control negatively predicted need for structure (*b* = −0.12, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = −4.57, *p* < 0.001) and objective social class could not predict need for structure significantly (*b* = −0.03, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = −1.06, *p* = 0.29). Furthermore, bootstrapping analyses showed that perceived control mediated the pathway from objective social class to need for structure (indirect effect = −0.03, *SE* = 0.01, 95% CI = [−0.05, −0.02]), and the ratio of the indirect effect to total effect is 50.55%.

**Figure 2.** Model of the mediating role of perceived control in the association between objective social class and need for structure; \* *p* < 0.05, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001.

#### *3.4. Moderated Mediating Effect of Pandemic Threat (Objective Social Class as Independent Variable)*

We next tested for the moderating role of pandemic threat. Moderated mediating effect analysis in PROCESS [44] was used to test the moderated mediation effect using 1000 bootstrapped samples. Results (see Table 2) showed that objective social class was significantly associated with perceived control. More importantly, pandemic threat significantly moderated the impact of objective social class on need for structure and the impact of perceived control on need for structure. This suggests that the mediating effect among objective social class, perceived control, and need for structure was moderated by the pandemic threat. We further tested the conditional indirect effects. For a lower pandemic threat, the indirect effect of objective social class on the need for structure was significant (indirect effect = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.16, −0.01]), and for a higher pandemic threat, the effect was not significant (indirect effect = 0.03, 95% CI [−0.03,0.09]).



Note: \* *p* < 0.05, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001.

We conducted simple slope tests to better understand the results regarding pandemic threat as a moderator. As depicted in Figure 3, when the pandemic threat was lower, the need for structure of the upper class individuals was significantly lower than that of lower class individuals (*b* = −0.15, *SE* = 0.04, *t* = −3.69, *p* < 0.001). However, when the pandemic threat was higher, this discrepancy disappeared (*b* = 0.02, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = 0.77, *p* = 0.44). Furthermore, for the lower objective class, pandemic threat could not predict the need for structure (*b* = 0.14, *SE* = 0.05, *t* = 0.97, *p* = 0.33), but for the higher objective class, the pandemic threat positively predicted the need for structure (*b* = 0.30, *SE* = 0.06, *t* = 5.05, *p* < 0.001).

**Figure 3.** Interactive effect of pandemic threat and objective social class on need for structure. Note: Pandemic threat is graphed for two levels: high pandemic threat (1 *SD* above the mean) and low pandemic threat (1 *SD* below the mean).

Similarly, as depicted in Figure 4, when the pandemic threat was lower, people with higher perceived control reported a significantly lower need for structure than those with lower perceived control (*b* = −0.21, *SE* = 0.04, *t* = −5.03, *p* < 0.001). However, when the pandemic threat was higher, this discrepancy disappeared (*b* = −0.02, *SE* = 0.04, *t* = −0.61, *p* = 0.54). Furthermore, for individuals of lower perceived control, pandemic threat could not predict the need for structure (*b* = 0.03, *SE* = 0.05, *t* = 0.57, *p* = 0.57), but for those with higher perceived control, pandemic threat positively predicted the need for structure (*b* = 0.29, *SE* = 0.06, *t* = 5.21, *p* < 0.001).

**Figure 4.** Interactive effect of pandemic threat and perceived control on need for structure. Note: Pandemic threat is graphed for two levels: higher pandemic threat (1 *SD* above the mean) and lower pandemic threat (1 *SD* below the mean).

#### *3.5. Mediating Effect of Pandemic Threat (Subjective Class as Independent Variable)*

Next, we used the subjective class as the independent variable, testing the same mediation model and moderated mediation model. Mediating effect analysis in PROCESS [44] was used to test the mediation effect using 1000 bootstrapped samples. Figure 5 displays the paths in the proposed model. Subjective social class positively predicted perceived control (*b* = 0.25, *SE* = 0.02, *t* = 10.82, *p* < 0.001) and negatively predicted need for structure (b = −0.07, *SE* = 0.02, *t* = −4.16, *p* < 0.001). When we added subjective social class and perceived control to the model simultaneously, perceived control negatively predicted need for structure (*b* = −0.11, *SE* = 0.03, *t* = −3.67, *p* < 0.001) and subjective social class significantly predicted need for structure (*b* = −0.04, *SE* = 0.02, *t* = −2.67, *p* = 0.008). Furthermore, bootstrapping analyses showed that perceived control mediated the pathway from subjective social class to need for structure (indirect effect = −0.03, *SE* = 0.01, 95% CI = [−0.04, −0.01]), and the ratio of the indirect effect to total effect was 37.07%.

**Figure 5.** Model of the mediating role of perceived control in the association between subjective social class and need for structure; \*\* *p* < 0.01, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001.
