In contrast to the verb “to sit,” “to set” means “to cause to sit” or “to seat”—that is, to make something or someone else sit or assuming a sitting/resting position. In this fashion, it applies more to the person or item receiving the action than to the person who is performing the action.

Huh! I've never heard set defined quite that way before. I've never used it in a way related to a person sitting or being seated, but rather in the sense of "to place or position an object somewhere". Or, as I memorized in the Dark Ages, "You sit on a chair. You set an object on the table." However, since I never absorbed any formal grammar rules, I don't know how helpful that might be in complicated cases or to non-native speakers....