<p>This review presents a critical reading of the literature on <em>social buffering </em>in human and non-human animals. The term <em>social buffering </em>has been coined to refer to an attenuation of stress responses by the presence of conspecifics. Evidence shows that the buffer seems to be specific for each stage of development, being the mother the factor that attenuates the stress responses during early development and conspecifics of the same age, later in life. An animal model of scarcity of resources revealed that when being reared by a stressed mother, the social buffering effect does not occur. The literature reviewed allows us to approach a key factor related to stress and its effects in the different stages of ontogeny.</p>