The theoretical framework that best fits my research topic is that of Festinger’s social comparison theory. According to social comparison theory, there is a constant drive among people to evaluate their opinions and abilities and this often results in comparing one’s opinions and abilities with others. There is a greater tendency to compare oneself with people who are more similar in some way and when given a range of possible people to use for comparison, the one chosen is most likely to be someone close to one’s own ability or opinion. Social comparison theory holds that there is a constant drive to improve oneself and to accomplish more and more in Western culture and that this drive creates a need in people to compare themselves to others (Festinger 1954). This relates to my research topic of how the ideal female body is portrayed in reality television shows since there are usually scenes in which contestants with an un-idealized body type will compare themselves to others with un-idealized body types as well as those with idealized body types. When they compare themselves with people who they think are more physically attractive than them and that have what constitutes the ideal female body type, they feel more motivated to lose the weight or follow through with plastic surgery in order to move up in the world. This is an example of an upward social comparison, which takes place when we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than us in order to inspire us to improve our current status or level of ability. By comparing their bodies to those with more idealized body types, contestants may feel more inspired to attain those beauty standards. This upward social comparison can be detrimental, however, if contestants do not make as much progress as they wish to and do not attain the beauty standards that they were after. In comparing their lack of results to somebody who has already achieved their dream body, contestants may feel discouraged or alienated since they do not fit within the oppressive beauty standards that have been placed upon them.