Richard Curtin has directed the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment surveys for more than four decades. His analyses of recent trends in consumer expectations are regularly covered in the worldwide press. In this book, Curtin presents a new theory of expectations. Whereas conventional...

"Expected outcomes offer no new information. Results that are unexpected challenge orthodox views. While most discrepancies are resolved upon detailed examination, the few that remain have the potential to lead to a new understanding of human behavior. Over the past four decades, I have held a...

This research note examines changes in beliefs and attitudes over a 14-year period, from 1990, when the revolution in genomic science was just beginning, to 2004, the most recent time point for which data are available. The analysis makes clear that there is no simple causal path from changes in...

This study investigates beliefs about the determinants of such behavioral characteristics as intelligence, athleticism, obesity, and alcoholism by asking respondents to the 2004 General Social Survey to rate vignettes describing individuals exhibiting these characteristics along a 21-point scale...