Phases of a society

Ray Dalio outlines 5 phases of a sovereign state:

1) In phase 1, people are poor and they think they are poor.
2) In phase 2, people are getting rich but they still think they are poor.
3) In phase 3, people are rich and they think they are rich.
4) In phase 4, people are poorer but they still think they are rich.
5) In phase 5, the state is on the decline but people are slow to accept it.

Does this mean people's perspective tends to be behind reality?