In addition to appraisals, Richard Lazarus studied the influence of preparing for emotional events. In one study, he and his colleagues found that a person’s emotional reactions to a film of a painful event was described in a matter-of-fact way. Likewise, the emotional reactions could be heightened if the experimenter emphasized the pain the viewers would experience. In light of these findings, consider the following: How could this research be used by doctors to help their patients before surgery? Or by activists to motivate people to join a cause?