Markus Schafer

Education

Ph.D., Sociology, Purdue University, 2011
M.A., Sociology, Purdue University, 2007
B.A., Psychology and Sociology, Grove City College, 2005

Biography

Markus Schafer is Professor of sociology and Graduate Program Director. He completed his PhD in sociology and gerontology at Purdue University in 2011 and spent over a decade on the faculty at the University of Toronto before joining Baylor. His research focuses primarily on health and aging, examining issues such as the varied consequences of childhood adversity and other early life experiences; how social networks evolve in later life and relate to physical, mental, and cognitive health; and sociology of religion, as it relates to social connection, health, and the life course. Schafer’s work has been funded by various sources, including the Province of Ontario’s Early Research Award program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the National Institute on Aging. He currently serves as deputy editor for both Journals of Gerontology, Social Sciences and Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and is co-editor of Handbook of the Sociology of Aging, 2^nd Ed. (Springer).

Recent Publications

Schafer, Markus H., Dawn C. Carr, Richard A. Settersten, and Jacqueline L. Angel (Eds.). 2027 Handbook of the Sociology of Aging, 2^nd edition. New York: Springer.

Dubash, Soli, Markus H. Schafer, and Emmanuel Kyeremeh. 2026. “Advice Inequality in Personal Networks: Do Gender Dynamics Matter?” Social Psychology Quarterly, forthcoming.

Upenieks, Laura and Markus H. Schafer. 2026. “Easing the Burden? Religiosity and Educational Inequality in Pain Interference.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, forthcoming.

Schafer, Markus H. and Laura Upenieks. 2026. “Shifts in American Religiosity and Spirituality from 1995-2014: How Did Community Life Change?” Sociology of Religion, forthcoming.

Schafer, Markus H., James S. Malo, Brandon Brown, and Meagan McGourty. 2026. “What Accompanies Companionship? Reassessing Personal Networks and Loneliness among Young and Older Adults.” Social Networks 86:211-228. 

Lee, Jin A. and Markus H. Schafer. 2026. “The Co-Evolution of Personal Networks and Loneliness Following Widowhood: Resources or Costs for Older Men and Women?” Society and Mental Health 16:90-109.

Upenieks, Laura and Markus H. Schafer. 2026. “Faith and Volunteering at Midlife: Variation by Religious Continuity, Discontinuity, or Initiation Since Childhood?” Sociology of Religion 87:109-132.

Sun, Haosen and Markus H. Schafer. 2026. “Reading between the Ties: Solitary and Social Activities, Network Satisfaction, and Loneliness in Later Life.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 43:692-713.

Andersson, Matthew A., Max E. Coleman, Catherine E. Harnois, and Markus H. Schafer. 2026. “Higher Educational Attainment and Later-Life Cognition: Twentieth-Century Linkages by Gender and Race in the United States.” Social Science & Medicine 391:118883.

Friedman, Elliot, Markus H. Schafer, Alex Francis, and Melissa Franks. 2026. “Poorer Subjective Hearing is Associated with Less Frequent and More Negative Social Interactions.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 81:gbaf261.