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. His research focuses primarily on health and aging. Some of the things he studies includes 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 how ageism is expressed in organizations. Schafer’s work has been funded by various sources, including the Province of Ontario’s Early Research Award program and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He currently serves as deputy editor of Journals of Gerontology, Social Sciences and on the editorial board of several other interdisciplinary journals. He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of the Sociology of Aging, 2^nd Ed. (Springer).

Recent Publications

Sun, Haosen and Markus H. Schafer. 2025. “Reading between the Ties: Solitary and Social Activities, Network Satisfaction, and Loneliness in Later Life.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming. 

Schafer, Markus H. and Laura Upenieks. 2025. “Shifts in American Religiosity and Spirituality from 1995-2014: How Did Community Life Change?” Sociology of Religion, forthcoming. 

Malo, James S., Markus H. Schafer, and April J. Stull. 2025. “Healthy Eating in Life Course Context: Asymmetric Implications of Socioeconomic Origins and Destinations.” Social Science & Medicine, forthcoming. 

Schafer, Markus H. and Anna Zajacova. 2025. “Where Does it Hurt? A 4-S Model of Pain Onset and Recovery across Body Sites among Older Adults.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, forthcoming. 

Lee, Jin A. and Markus H. Schafer. 2025. “The Co-Evolution of Personal Networks and Loneliness Following Widowhood: Resources or Costs for Older Men and Women?” Society and Mental Health, forthcoming.

Upenieks, Laura and Markus H. Schafer. 2025. “Faith and Volunteering at Midlife: Variation by Religious Continuity, Discontinuity, or Initiation Since Childhood?” Sociology of Religion, forthcoming.

Schafer, Markus H. 2024. “Social Contact during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Long Term Connectedness and Cumulative Inequality in Later Life.” Social Science Research.

Dubash, Soli and Markus H. Schafer. 2024. “Social Network Negativity and Physical Activity: New Longitudinal Evidence for Young and Older Adults, 2015-2018.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport

Eugene Dim and Markus H. Schafer. 2024. “Age, Political Participation, and Political Context in Africa.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences

Schafer, Markus H. and Laura Upenieks. 2024. “On Religious Ambiguity: Childhood Family Religiosity and Adult Flourishing in a Twin Sample.” Social Science Research 118:102949.

Kyeremeh, Emmanuel and Markus H. Schafer (equal authorship). 2024. “Keep Around, Drop, or Revise? Exploring What Becomes of Difficult Ties in Personal Networks.” Social Networks 76:22-33.