Psychology student Jeremy Stevenson is not anxious about this week’s Three Minute Thesis finals at Flinders.

In his thesis, the PhD candidate is assessing whether the modern trend to be highly self-critical is underpinning the rise in social anxiety – and whether ‘self-compassion’ is an holistic way to deal with the negative perceptions of ourselves.

“We live in very competitive times, as seen in TV shows like Master Chef and The Voice,” the 28-year-old says.

“We tend to place ridiculously high expectations on ourselves, and the way we talk to ourselves can be nothing like the way we’d talk to our friends or even strangers.

“Potentially my research could help to elucidate how we can use self-compassion to prevent social mishaps from social anxiety.”

Jeremy will join seven other finalists from Flinders’ four faculties at the 3MT final on Friday.

All students are invited to the final showdown at 3pm at the Health Sciences Lecture Theatre Complex 1.01 on 28 August.

A $2,000 prize for the winner, $500 for the runner-up and $1,000 People’s Choice prize will be decided on the day. Entrants will also receive a range of prizes from the New Venture Institute.

More than $8,000 in prizes is up for grabs in the Trans-Tasman final to be held in Queensland on 2 October.