Ben David Jones

Currently undertaking a PhD research Studentship studying Talent Identification and Development in conjunction with the England and Wales cricket board (ECB) (projected: 2014-2018).

My research interests can be broadly split into two areas;

Talent identification and development (PhD studentship)

Context:

The project is based on the insights given by the deliberate practice/play research that mostly focuses on the quantity of practice. The project also comes on the back of promising findings in the Great British Medallists study relating to athletes' practice and training histories which could be explored further by adopting a similar framework to a single sport in future research.

Project Aims:
  • Conduct a detailed examination of the biographical development of cricketers with differing expertise levels; ‘super-elite’ and elite groups, specifically focusing on the nature and structure of practice and training histories, along with demographic factors
  • identify the extent to which practice and training histories, together with demographic factors influence the development pathway in cricket
  • Applied work to consist of monitoring the predictive validity of ECB’s ongoing talent identification procedures, including scouting, talent testing, and performance statistics
Projected Outcomes:
  • Provide fairly complete picture of the practice and training experiences that a potential high level cricketer should have from a young age
  • Identify desirable practice environments, informing the production of high level cricketers from the academies
  • Inform a review of coach education curriculum and cricket development resources, especially at school/club/academy level.
  • Develop the first iteration of an integrated model of talent identification and selection for England development cricketers
  • Inform and develop ECB’s ongoing talent identification procedures in identifying other predictors of success; utility of talent testing, scouting & performance statistics and increasing effectiveness of ECB selection meetings

Personality and its relationship with sport-related behaviors (Undergraduate research project)

Context:

Personality research has typically been conducted somewhat in isolation from the study of basic psychological processes. Thus, it is no surprise that few studies have considered the effects of personality and individual differences when investigating moral disengagement and antisocial behavior in sport. The personality trait of narcissism appears to hold much promise in this regard because it seamlessly dovetails the psychological process of moral disengagement when considering the etiology of a narcissist.

Project Aims:

  • To provide the first examination of personality – specifically narcissism – as a predictor of moral disengagement and antisocial behavior in sport. 
  • Narcissism is theoretically linked to the psychological process of moral disengagement, which is an important factor in predicting antisocial behaviour, and thus we were interested in the role of narcissism in predicting antisocial behavior in contact team sports via moral disengagement.

 Specifically examining:

  • The role of the self-regulatory mechanisms and their link with moral action in exercising one’s ability to distinguish between ‘right and wrong’
  • A predictive model of moral disengagement and subsequent anti-social behaviour in sport
  • The predictive value of motivational climate and social desirability on such negatively construed attitudinal and behavioural components
  • The addition of the personality trait of narcissism as a potential antecedent in preceding the coexisting relationship between moral disengagement and anti-social behaviour, whilst controlling for the effects of motivational climate and social desirability

Outcomes:

  • Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and antisocial behavior in sport
  • Narcissism directly predicts antisocial behavior in sport
  • Moral disengagement mediates the relationship between narcissism and antisocial behaviour in sport
  • Effects are upheld when controlling for motivational climate and social desirability
  • Given the negative impact of such behaviors, practitioners would do well to have greater awareness of individuals’ personality that underpins their proneness to moral disengagement and subsequent antisocial behaviour, which  is of course equally valid for research as it is for applied practice.

Past conference presentations:

Jones, B.D., & Woodman, T. (2014). The darker side of personality: Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and antisocial behaviour in sport. Presented at the annual British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) student conference in Portsmouth, UK, April 2014.

Jones, B.D., Woodman, T. & Barlow, M. (2014). The darker side of personality: Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and antisocial behaviour in sport. Invited presentationat the annual British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) conference in Burton, UK, November 2014.

Jones, B.D.,  Woodman, T., & Barlow, M. (2015). The darker side of personality: Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and antisocial behaviour in sport. Presented at the annual Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) student conference in Loughborough, UK, February 2015.

Jones, B.D., Lawrence, G.P., & Hardy, L. (2015). Does the relative age effect exist at the ‘super-elite’ level in cricket? (Experiment 1). Presented at the annual Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network (ESAN) conference (poster) in Sheffield, UK, April 2015.

Jones, B.D., Lawrence, G.P., Hardy, L. (2015). Comparison of the biographical development of ‘super-elite’ and elite cricketers: An introduction. Presented at the England & Wales cricket board biannual Academy Directors conference in Trent Bridge Nottingham, UK, October 2015.

Jones, B.D., Lawrence, G.P., & Hardy, L. (2015). Evidence of the relative age effect at the ‘super-elite’ level in sport: A relatively long time coming. Presented at the annual ‘Producing and Sharing Knowledge and Expertise in the World of Sport’ PhD student conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, November 2015.

Manuscripts in preparation/under review:

Jones, B.D., Woodman, T., & Barlow, M. (under third review). The darker side of personality: Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and anti-social behaviour in sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.

Jones, B.D., Lawrence, G. P., Hardy, L. (in preparation). Evidence of the relative age effect at the ‘super-elite’ level in sport: A relatively long time coming. <Journal Title TBC>.