Raising Expectations

Re-reading Managing the Absurd by Richard Farson recently and ran into the Theory of Rising Expectations:
'Revolutions are most likely to occur when a prolonged period of objective economic and social development is followed by a short period of sharp reversal...' - James C. Davies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Davies)

In terms of projects: If the project is proceeding very well and exceeding expectations - then runs into an 'issue', is the reaction from client, team, etc. more dramatic then if the project was proceeding as planned or not meeting expectations and then ran into an 'issue'...??? Makes one want to rethink how we communicate how successful a project is proceeding ('Gee, you told me last week we're ahead of schedule by a month and now you're telling me we're only ahead by 3 weeks....think we have to replace the project manager...') - something to think about.