I used a Pearson correlation matrix with three variables: total perceived stress, total perceived control of internal states, and total negative affect.
A strong ...
I used a Pearson correlation matrix with three variables: total perceived stress, total perceived control of internal states, and total negative affect.
A strong correlation in my matrix was between perceived stress and negative affect, r = .674. This is a strong positive relationship. In simple terms, when stress went up, negative affect also tended to go up. So, participants who felt more stressed were also more likely to report more negative emotions.
A moderate correlation was found between perceived control of internal states and negative affect, r = -.484. This means the relationship was negative and moderate in strength. In other words, participants who felt more control over their internal states usually reported lower negative affect.
In my matrix, I did not find a weak correlation because all three relationships were moderate to strong. Another strong correlation was between perceived stress and perceived control of internal states, r = -.581. This was a strong negative relationship, which means that higher perceived control was associated with lower stress.
One pattern that stood out to me was that all three correlations were significant and moved in a logical direction. Stress was positively related to negative affect, while perceived control was negatively related to both stress and negative affect. The strongest relationship was between stress and negative affect, so these two variables seem to be the most closely connected in this dataset.