Interesting. I'm immediately reminded of the set points for happiness and weight. Also, Eliezer described the phenomenon in "It's okay to be a little irrational" as "removal of pressure -> removal of counterpressure -> collapse of irrationality". The pressure -> counterpressure -mechanism sounds like it may be related to this.

Extending it a bit further... often we seem to seek evidence that confirms our beliefs, not evidence that would actually challenge them. Wouldn't that, too, be an instance of trying to set one's perceptions at desired values?