Decorating the Christmas tree, leaving milk and cookies for Santa, opening presents and visiting relatives all represent popular traditions of the holiday season.

Even with the change in time, these celebrations have remained true to their fundamental meaning of cherishing family and love.

Benjamin Bayer, philosophy professor, said he believes there are many reasons why families celebrate the Christmas holiday. He said one of the reasons relies on the fact that humans, religious or secular, experience a state of spiritual comfort when they receive a material gift.

“It’s a gloomy time of year and we have a psychological need to brighten up the world on our own,” Bayer said.

Bayer said that, in addition, the fact that Christmas begins right after the winter solstice, which marks the shortest nights of the year, makes humans experience a kind of emotional shift due to the extended nights. He added that by giving family members presents, humans stimulate one another because it shows they know the receiver well enough to anticipate their interests and needs.

Petrice Sams-Abiodun, executive director at Lindy Boggs Center, said she believes Christmas has been greatly affected by the increasing commercialism of the holidays.

Her claim is supported by a recent study released by the PEW Research Institute in 2013, which states that only 79 percent of Americans planned to put up a Christmas tree, in comparison to the 92 percent that said they typically put up a Christmas tree with their families when they were children.

“I won’t work during the holidays because the season is about family,”Abiodun said.

According to Abiodun, she has learned that the real purpose of the Christmas holiday is to focus more on the spiritual part within us and to give back to the community.

Amelia Stouffer, international business sophomore, said her family’s holiday tradition involves getting Chinese food and watching Christmas movies together. She said that she doesn’t believe our culture’s lost the meaning of the holidays, but rather have become overly invested in our culture’s behavioral commercialization.

“It’s become more about material spending and a lot less about family – what actually matters,” Stouffer said.

According to Kentro Mason, vocal performance junior, he hasn’t witnessed a substantial change with how our culture practices the Christmas traditions because, for him, the holidays still remain as a time of self-discovery and a chance to spend time with family.

Like Mason, nearly 86 percent of Americans said they plan to gather with extended family or friends on Christmas Eve, according to the PEW Research Institute.

“My favorite part of the holiday is when I’m in a food coma, and then I wake up and there is more food,” Mason said.