Richard Lazarus and his colleagues showed participants a film depicting an aboriginal puberty ritual where young boys had their penises cut with a jagged knife. As predicted, participants who saw a version of the film with what was called the _________ soundtrack experienced the highest levels of arousal, thus providing direct support for Lazarus's contention that ______________________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Lazarus's theory emphasizes that cognitive appraisals—how we interpret and think about our environment and experiences—affect our emotional and physiological responses, including arousal. The study with the "trauma" soundtrack supports this by showing that how the film was framed (via the soundtrack) influenced participants' emotional arousal, demonstrating the role of cognitive appraisal in emotional response.

Richard Lazarus and His Colleagues Showed Participants a Film Depicting