In contemporary writing, a character’s motivation typically

I would say a character's motivation in contemporary writing is revea led/discussed as a struggle to deal with the multiple stresses of modern life between work committments dependent on the capitalist marketplace ie dealing with economic depressions for example,  family committments which can be intensive if the character has a relative with a mental disability say, and other committments/concerns ie regarding the natural environment and global warming, for example. So the character's motivation has to be presented in relation to all of these aspects of life in modern society.