Pa ge 1 Pa ge 15 0 American Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation (AJMRI) The Mediating Effect of Normative Commitment on the Relationship Between Ethical Climate and Quality of Work Life Among Public Elementary School Teachers Shaquela D. Sollano1*, Lyndon A. Quines1 Volume 1 Issue 4, Year 2022 ISSN: 2158-8155 (Online), 2832-4854 (Print) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v1i4.616 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Article Information ABSTRACT Received: September 18, 2022 Accepted: September 30, 2022 Published: October 02, 2022 This study investigated the mediating effect of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life among 300 Division of Davao del Sur teach- ers using a non-experimental quantitative descriptive-correlational research design. Mean, Pearson r, and path analysis using AMOS were used in analyzing the data. There is a high ethical climate, a high quality of work life, and a high level of normative commitment among the responder public elementary school teachers. It also shows a strong correlation between ethical climate and school work life quality. Similarly, there is a positive correlation between moral environment and normative commitment. Utilizing path analysis, the study’s results revealed no mediation of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical cli- mate and quality of work life. This implies that normative commitment carries no influence on moral climate and quality of work life. Keywords Educational Management, Mediating Effect, Normative Commitment, Ethical Climate, Quality of Work Life, Philippines 1 University of Mindanao, Philippines * Corresponding author’s email: shaquela.sollano001@deped.gov.ph INTRODUCTION In any organization, employees’ contributions are vital to productivity and success. Every employer must examine how employees are motivated (Aggarwal, 2012), how things are solved quickly and efficiently (Falah, 2020), and how customers’ problems and complaints are handled to increase profits (Dave & Purohit, 2016). Employees are assets, not liabilities, according to Almarshad (2015). Not all workers were productive, hard-working, and motivated (Yadav & Sharma, 2021). Humans have a home, family, employment, and financial, emotional, and mental health concerns (Turanlgil & Farooq, 2019). Instead of performing well, they have trouble with work- life balance. This does not exempt teachers whose various duties and obligations provoke high perceived job-related stress and raise work-life conflict (Punja & Kamboj, 2013). Research demonstrates that these pressures affect teachers’ performance and may lead to meaningless work, dissatisfaction with workplace relationships, loneliness, ineptitude, and hopelessness (Akram, Duzce, Ozu & Shah 2017). Poor quality of work life (QWL) is a precursor to underperformance; it fosters teacher effectiveness and satisfaction, more excellent retention rates, and teachers’ incentive to remain and do well in the teaching profession (Sandeep, 2012). In Australia, excessive job pressure and family obligations lead to poor physical, psychological, and emotional health (Jackson & Fransman, 2018). In Canada, it lowered productivity and increased absenteeism (Jensen & Knudsen, 2017). In India, nuclear family dual-career couples struggle without domestic support (Srinivasan & Sulur Nachimuthu, 2021). 65% of working professionals in the Philippines are pleased with their QWL and 41% with their personal and professional lives (Jones, Cleveland & Uther, 2019). Based on QWL life research, an ethical atmosphere is a crucial component in determining suitable actions and how to resolve ethical difficulties. In Cashi (2016), the moral environment affects QWL since it drives the institution’s basic principles. In Shin (2012), the effects of ethical climates on organization identification influence ethical behavior, job attitudes, organizational commitment, proactive customer service performance, turnover intentions, organizational citizenship behaviors, organizational deviance, corruption, and a variety of counterproductive behaviors such as tardiness or absenteeism (Lu & Lin, 2014). It transformed how teachers behave, feel about their work, and commit to their agency. When management does not prioritize ethics, implement an ethical code of conduct, and rectify unethical behavior and attitudes, hostile attitudes and actions proliferate (Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella & Shani, 2015). With a more ethical atmosphere, workers are more engaged and devoted. Another essential variable the researcher considered is normative commitment, or how employees express moral duty to an organization, resulting in loyalty and strong commitment (Bano, Ishrat & Mishra, 2019). High-commitment employees explain their company’s aims and values. They want to join the company and are ready to show excellent citizenship. These employees are constantly prepared to do their best for the company and are willing to take on extra work (Gelaidan & Ahmad, 2013). Employees who lack normative commitment cannot contribute to its success and are more likely to resign. Hardiningsih et al. (2020) believe commitment is key to developing responsibility and leaving an organization. Sow, Anthony, and Berete (2016) highlighted workers with solid normative commitment who continue with the https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v1i4.616 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri mailto:shaquela.sollano001%40deped.gov.ph?subject= Pa ge 15 1 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 firm as a duty and ethical standard despite not enjoying their job or receiving fewer perks. Nevertheless, the researcher has not yet encountered studies in the Philippines investigating normative commitment, ethical climate, and QWL. Most research on normative commitment, moral environment, and QWL has been conducted outside the country, and most of it focuses on the link between organizational commitment and QWL, between organizational commitment and ethical climate, but not on normative commitment as an indicator of organizational commitment and a mediator of moral environment and QWL. This gap must be closed. The research examines the effect of normative commitment on ethical climate and QWL. In addition, the result of the study may be utilized as one of the references for developing an ethical climate and quality of work life by normative commitment. it is generally accepted that when the moral environment and quality of work life are high, it is expected that normative commitment is also high leading to a significantly more advanced and dynamic learning process. Learners, in return, will boost their competence since teachers perform well in the administration and facilitation of learning. however, realistically talking, this is not always the case. even with how exceptional the teachers performed, there are still instances when teachers have difficulty committing to the profession. Hence, this proposes the researcher determine the mediating effect of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and the quality of work life of public elementary teachers. Research Objectives The study aimed to determine the mediating effect of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life among public elementary school teachers in the Division of Davao del Sur. The following objectives were created in particular: 1. To describe the level of ethical climate of public elementary school teachers in terms of: 1.1 egoism, 1.2 benevolence, and 1.3 principle. 2. To determine the level of quality of work life of public elementary school teachers in terms of: 2.1 stress at work, 2.2 work-personal life balance, 2.3 job and career satisfaction, and 2.4 working condition. 3. To measure the level of normative commitment among public elementary school teachers. 4.To ascertain the significance of the relationship between: 4.1 ethical climate and quality of work life, 4.2 ethical climate and normative commitment, and 4.3 normative commitment and quality of work life. 5. To determine the significance of mediation of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life. LITERATURE REVIEW In this section, topics are thematically presented. Studies derived from books, journals, articles, and other reliable references retrieved from various academic papers and research are presented in this section as it relates to each indicator of the study. The utilization of these shall give a more elaborated meaning and information about the topic being investigated. Ethical Climate Anchored on ethics which is the study of the distinction between right and wrong, ethical climate described the shared perception of what ought to be followed as a form of ethically correct behavior. In the context of the education setting, several researchers have seen the significance and positive relationship between ethical climate and work engagement of teachers (Chen et al., 2013; Fein et al., 2013; Hung et al., 2015; Kuntz et al., 2013; Moore, 2012; Parboteeah et al., 2014; Silen et al., 2012). If ethical climate in the academic environment is well conveyed and implemented, it leads to teachers being more engaged and interested in students’ learning experiences and improves teachers’ retention and willingness to be identified with the organization (Oncer & Yilidiz, 2012). All these relevant research inputs lead to further explorations on indicators related to ethical climate, which are egoism, benevolence, and principle. The first indicator of ethical climate is egoism which pertains to the individuals’ maximization of personal interests. In Beeri et al., (2013), when a decision is taken from an egoistic setting, individual’s self-interest becomes the intended primary source of moral reasoning. Others’ needs and desires are less critical (Ryu, 2020) while Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara and Guerra-Baez (2016) highlighted that within the context of an egoistic ethical environment, standards inspire a concentration on individual benefit. It is doubtful that the projected selfishness would support the growth of organizational commitment because it would contradict the nature of the situation. Employees may care less about their teammates and the organization if their employer encourages behaviors and attitudes that are self-serving (Dark & Rix, 2015). An egoistic workplace is perceived by employees to prioritize organization choices, serving organizations’ self-interest above others interests. Another indicator of ethical climate is benevolence which pertains to how one seeks maximum pleasure or less inconvenience for an organization. Even if it means a lesser fulfilment of individual needs, decision- makers maximize mutual interests (Tanner et al., 2015). Individuals make judgments that are in the best interests of the most significant number of persons and a friendly environment encourages members of an organization to work together, have positive feelings about the tasks https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 15 2 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 they are assigned and have positive personal relationships. This generates a positive affective tone (Hansen et al., 2016) and activities like sharing goodwill and knowledge are signs of higher engagement. Accordingly, positive operational results among teachers are achieved if organizations ensure benevolent ethical climate (Shin et al., 2015) which are also associated with higher student achievement (Birtch & Chiang, 2014) as manifested in the team’s interests and cultures of social responsibility. The last indicator is a principle, which is how one emphasizes the laws, rules, norms, and policies of an organization. When presented with an ethical dilemma, standards of an organization imply that decision-makers based their choices on rules and regulations. Workers behave ethically and justly in line with the principles of ethics and justice they have self-identified (Oncer & Yilidiz, 2012) and is associated with less commitment to an organization due to possible internal conflict with an individual’s value system. Hence, a satisfied workforce is a positive precursor to a successful educational environment. Quality of Work Life Quality of Work Life (QWL) primarily concerned with the holistic climate of the workplace alongside the people in the organization with the purpose of work effectiveness and productivity necessary to ensure organization’s success. This is where organization gives QWL priority, see human resources as a top concern and in effect pay great attention to the needs of the employees (Narehan et al., 2014). QWL enables individuals to cultivate aspects of their personal lives within the context of their professional lives (Paustian-Underdahl et al., 2016) and considered as an indication of being able to forecast improved job performance among workers. In Allen et al., (2014), when workers are supplied with the appropriate atmosphere, they will be able to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. More so, a strong connection between QWL and teacher participation, professional collaboration and interaction, use of skill and knowledge, and teaching environment existed (Emre & De Spiegeleare, 2019). This correlate substantially with increasing levels of pleasure, motivation, participation, and dedication that teachers experienced in their life at work (Zhao et al., 2013). In Yang et al., (2019), QWL is associated with an improved degree of happiness, motivation, participation, and commitment. The first indicator of QWL is stress at work. Teachers are confronted with unwanted factors brought about by school-related factors tending to challenge the ease of the conduct of the profession and even affect life outside of work (Ninaus et al., 2015). Although stress at work is every day in any line of work, if not addressed, can lead to more significant problems such as showing signs of dissatisfaction with one’s job, lower morale, poor performance, and general exhaustion, all of which led to decreased productivity and increased job turnover. Liao et al., (2016) emphasized that too much stress at work among teachers prompts a decline in job performance. Closely related to the previous indicator is work- personal life balance which pertains to practices in the workplace that encourage what constitutes a healthy balance between one’s work-related responsibilities and personal life (Mushfiqur et al., 2018). The demands of one’s job may make it difficult to keep one’s personal and professional lives in harmony, which will have an impact on the teachers’ well-being as a whole and may be a factor in determining whether they will be able to carry out their responsibilities in an efficient manner (Haar et al., 2019). Without balance, teachers are observed to be disoriented and instead of doing well, they could not perform their tasks at optimal levels (Thilagavathy & Geetha, 2020). Another indicator of the quality of work life is job and career satisfaction which pertains to the sense of fulfillment and pride one experiences in the conduct of their work. In Belwal and Belwal (2014), when individuals are happy with their jobs, they are dedicated to work and perform their best. Educators would successfully meet the objectives and expectations they have set for their careers and demonstrated the highest desire and performance (Fontinha et al., 2017) while inadequate performance and failures to fulfill teacher’s obligations and duties may be attributed partly to the unfavorable circumstances that arise throughout a teaching career. Normative Commitment Normative commitment, one of the indicators of organizational commitment, places significant emphasis on the principles of fidelity and accomplishment, driven by a feeling of duty, responsibility, and loyalty as critical drivers of organizational commitment (Faloye, 2014). According to Mahal (2012), the degree to which workers feel forced to remain with the company and have a moral duty indicates the level of normative loyalty. More so, through socialization, employees can build loyalty or a feeling of moral obligation toward the organization. Normative committed employees believed that staying in the company is ethically correct, despite how much rank advancement or satisfaction the organization delivers over time (Doan et al., 2020) while employees who enjoyed meaningful experiences spend more time leading group loyalty (Meyer et al., 2012). Furthermore, it does not matter how many challenges a teacher has; if they have normative commitment, they will not quit their profession since they feel required to continue it because of their feeling of responsibility and their personal values (Fard & Karimi, 2015). In a related sense, employees are more responsible and devoted to their co-workers if they have developed emotional links with their co-workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study used non-experimental quantitative descriptive correlation research design conducted in the 24 identified public elementary schools of the District of Sulop, Province of Davao del Sur, Region XI with 300 public https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 15 3 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 elementary school teachers. The research instruments employed were standardized questionnaires derived from various authors and were updated and modified to meet the study goals, verified by a team of experts and validators. The questionnaires taken from the internet were obtained with the author’s consent through e-mail. More so, Cronbach-alpha ratings were used to assess the surveys’ reliability: 0.726 for ethical climate, 0.679 for the quality of work life, and 0.745 for normative commitment, which further suggested internal consistency of good or low-stakes testing (Streiner, 2010). The first part of the questionnaire determined the respondents’ profiles, like their optional names, position, division, and sex. Moreover, the second part of the questionnaire focused on Ethical Climate, and each of its domains was given details in accordance to Kohlberg (1981), Victor and Cullen (1993), and Once and Yilidiz (2012). Indicators or parts included egoism (thirteen- item questions), benevolence (ten-item questions), and principle (eleven-item questions). The third part of the questionnaire focused on Quality of Work Life, each domain was given emphasis based on the work of Almarshad (2015). Indicators for QWL included stress at work (four item questions), work- personal life balance (five item questions), job and career satisfaction (twelve questions), and working conditions (nine questions). The fourth part of the questionnaire focused on Normative Commitment, each domain was given emphasis based on Meyer and Allen (1997). This consisted of six-item questions. Further, in evaluating the level of Ethical Climate, the level of Quality of Work Life, and the level of Normative Commitment of public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Davao del Sur Division, Region XI, rating scale, verbal description, and descriptive meaning or interpretation were provided using a five-point Likert scale and Mean score as a statistical tool based on an alpha significance standard of 0.05. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis (Pearson r) was utilized to determine the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life; between ethical climate and normative commitment, and between normative commitment and quality of work life and Path Analysis to prove the significance of its mediation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Level of Ethical Climate How employees engage with others is determined by what they value in relationships. A positive organizational culture encourages employees to perform properly and ethically, resulting in a pleasant work environment, team collaboration, and employee empowerment. Someone who has high ethical standards believes in them, and adheres to them will be much more organized than someone who adheres to ethical guidelines but does not truly believe in them. Shown in Table 1 is the Summary Table on the level of Ethical Climate of public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Division of Davao del Sur, Region XI. Table 1 revealed that on the level of ethical climate, it Table 1: Summary Table on the Level of Ethical Climate Indicators SD Mean Descriptive Level Egoism 0.62 3.85 High Benevolence 0.52 4.32 Very High Principle 0.57 4.24 Very High Overall 0.51 4.14 High was manifested most of the time as it has an overall mean score of 4.14 with a standard deviation of 0.515 and a verbal description of high. As shown in the same table, two out of the three domains on the level of ethical climate have very high verbal descriptions such as Benevolence with a mean score of 4.23 with a standard deviation of 0.52 and Principle with a mean score of 4.24 with a standard deviation of 0.57. Level of Quality of Work Life Quality of Work Life is crucial for all organizational inputs because it affects employee satisfaction and organizational performance. The importance of work- life quality is to maintain employment and working conditions that are beneficial to both employees and the organization’s financial soundness. As shown in Table 2 on the summary table on the level Table 2: Summary Table on the Level of Quality of Work Life Indicators SD Mean Descriptive Level Stress at Work 1.01 2.46 Low Work-Personal Life Balance 0.66 3.87 High Job and Career Satisfaction 0.54 4.32 Very High Working Condition 0.50 4.23 Very High Overall 0.45 3.72 High of Quality of Work Life, it revealed that it was manifested most of the time as it has an overall mean score of 3.72 with a standard deviation of 0.458 and a verbal description of high. As shown in the same table, two out of the four domains on the level of QWL have very high verbal descriptions such as job and career satisfaction with a mean score of 4.32 with a standard deviation of 0.54 and working condition with a mean score of 4.23 with a standard deviation of 0.50, and low for stress at work with a mean score of 2.46 with a standard deviation of 1.01. https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 15 4 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 Level of Normative Commitment Management is reliant on commitments. They are the means through which organizations get the resources they need to exist. Because commitment is associated with organizational effectiveness outcomes such as turnover intentions, absenteeism, and job performance, it may help organizations perform better and accomplish their objectives. Table 3: Summary Table on the Level of Normative Commitment Items SD Mean Descriptive Level Not feeling any obligation to remain with my organization. 1.21 2.46 Low Even if it were to my advantage, I am not feeling it would be right to leave. 1.07 3.82 High Feeling guilty if I would leave this organization now. 1.03 4.00 High This organization is deserving my loyalty. 0.84 4.31 Very High Having no feeling to leave my organization right now because of my sense of obligation to it. 1.00 4.13 High Owing a great deal to this organization. 0.91 4.24 Very High Overall 0.75 3.83 High As shown in Table 3, revealed that the level of normative commitment was manifested most of the time as it has an overall mean score of 3.83 with a standard deviation of 0.75 and a verbal description of high. As shown in the same table, two out of the six questions have very high verbal descriptions such as “This organization is deserving my loyalty” with a mean score of 4.31 with a standard deviation of 0.84 and “Owing a great deal to this organization” with a mean score of 4.24 with a standard deviation of 0.91, and only one item with low for “Not feeling any obligation to remain with my organization” with a mean score of 2.46 with a standard deviation of 1.21. Correlations between Ethical Climate and Quality of Work Life The ethical atmosphere produces ethical value, and ethical value leads to the formation of very good working circumstances, which is a manifestation of high work-life quality. It has been posited that employee performance improves when they have a high quality of life at work. As shown in Table 4 and based on the analysis, overall Table 4: Significance of the Relationship between the Ethical Climate and QWL Ethical Climate Quality of Work Life Stress at Work Work-Personal Life Balance Job and Career Satisfaction Working Condition Overall Egoism .171*(0.004) .477*(0.000) .598*(0.000) .580*(0.000) .604*(0.000) Benevolence .016(0.782) .574*(0.000) .702*(0.000) .775*(0.000) .638*(0.000) Principle .027(0.655) .586*(0.000) .672*(0.000) .683*(0.000) .614*(0.000) Overall .084(0.158) .606*(0.000) .731*(0.000) .752*(0.000) .689*(0.000) *Significant at 0.05 significance level. ethical climate positively correlated with an overall QWL r-value of 0.689, the p-value of <0.05. Also, the domains or indicators of ethical climate significantly correlated with QWL: Egoism r-value of 0.604, p<0.05, Benevolence r-value of 0.638, p<0.05, and Principle r-value of 0.614, p<0.05. Hence, the null hypothesis of no significant relationship is rejected. There is a significant relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life of public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Division of Davao del Sur, Region XI. Correlations between Ethical Climate and Normative Commitment Organizations created when an individual has the deepest desire to aid others and religiously adheres to the profession’s duties, responsibilities, and standards have a tremendous influence on educators’ normative commitment to the educational establishment. Table 5 reveals the significance of the Relationship between the Ethical Climate and Normative Commitment among public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Division of Davao del Sur, Region XI. As shown in Table 5 and based on the analysis, overall ethical climate positively correlated with overall Normative Commitment r-value of 0.405, p-value of <0.05). Also, the domains or indicators of ethical climate significantly correlated with Normative Commitment: Egoism r-value of 0.326, p<0.05, Benevolence r-value of 0.363, p<0.05, and Principle r-value of 0.400, p<0.05. Hence, the null hypothesis of no significant relationship is rejected. There is a significant relationship between ethical climate and normative commitment of public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Division of Davao del Sur, Region XI. Table 5: Significance of the Relationship between the Ethical Climate and QWL Ethical Climate Normative Commitment Overall Egoism .326*(0.000) Benevolence .363*(0.000) Principle .400*(0.000) Overall .405*(0.000) *Significant at 0.05 significance level. https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 15 5 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 Correlations between Normative Commitment and Quality of Work Life When one is committed to the organization, it is associated that they have a balance work life. Organizations should apply a variety of management and leadership tactics to raise their workers’ level of commitment. When workers are dedicated to their company, they perform at a better level. As shown in Table 6 and based on the analysis, overall Normative Commitment positively and significantly correlated with an overall QWL r-value of 0.323, p<0.05. Moreover, the domains of QWL also significantly correlated with normative commitment: work-personal life balance r-value of 0.223, p<0.05, job and career satisfaction (r-value of 0.486, p<0.05 and working condition r-value of 0.375, p<0.05. Only the indicator or domains stress at work r-value of 0.310, p<0.05 did not positively and significantly correlate. Hence, the null hypothesis of no significant relationship is rejected. This has suggested that since the null hypothesis has been rejected, a significant relationship between Normative Commitment and Quality of Work Life existed. Table 6: Significance of the Relationship between the Leadership Trust and Willingness to Remain the Profession Normative Commitment Quality of Work Life Stress at Work Work-Personal Life Balance Job and Career Satisfaction Working Condition Overall Overall -.010(0.861) .223*(0.000) .486*(0.000) .375*(0.000) .323*(0.000) *Significant at 0.05 significance level. Significance of Mediation of Normative Commitment on the Relationship between Ethical Climate and Quality of Work Life Path analysis was employed to prove the mediation and to strengthen the obtained result on the significance mediating effect of Normative Commitment (NC) on the relationship between Ethical Climate (EC) and Quality of Work Life (QWL) of public elementary school teachers in Sulop, Division of Davao del Sur, Region XI. A statistical method called path analysis enables users to look into patterns of influence within a system of variables. It is one of several variations of the general linear model that looks at how a group of predictor factors affects a large number of dependent variables. Moreover, Table 7 illustrated the path value of independent variable and dependent variable, independent variable and mediating variable, and mediating variable and dependent variable following the model used in this study as depicted in the conceptual framework. Hence, according to the path analysis presented in Table 7: Mediating Effect: Path Analysis (No mediation) ESTIMATES PATH Unstandardized Standardized SE C.R. P EC--> NC .591 .405 .079 7.444 *** NC --> QWL .032 .052 .029 1.111 .267 EC --> QWL .595 .668 .042 14.215 *** Figure 3, the p-value for Ethical Climate and Normative Commitment was 0.591, and the p-value for Ethical Climate and Quality of Work Life was 0.595. With this, it is inferred that there is no meaningful association between variables. Its p-value is above the alpha (0.001), indicating that it failed to reject the null hypothesis. Additionally, Figure 1. Path analysis showing the variables of the study the p-values for Normative Commitment and Quality of Work Life were 0.032 were larger than the alpha, indicating that the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Hence, there is no mediation of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life among public elementary school teachers in the Division of Davao del Sur. This study aimed to contribute to the literature regarding the potential indirect effect of the mediating variable on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life. Since the p-value for Ethical Climate and Normative Commitment was 0.591, the p-value for Ethical Climate and Quality of Work Life was 0.595, which inferred no meaningful association between variables. In contrast, the p-values for Normative Commitment and Quality of Work Life were 0.032, more significant than the alpha, indicating that the null hypothesis could not be rejected. It suggested that there is no sign of mediation of normative commitment on the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life among public elementary school teachers in the Division of Davao del Sur. https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 15 6 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(4) 150-159, 2022 A normative commitment was investigated as a potential mediating construct to explain how ethical climate affects work-life quality. While no significant mediation was found in this study, significant direct effects were shown that might help enhance the existing research on ethical climate and normative commitment. Some other factors may influence the moral environment and quality of work life among public elementary school teachers, and these other factors can be further provided with studies. On the contrary, other studies like McManus and Subramaniam (2014) and Perrigino et al. (2018) suggested that normative commitment is a significant mediator in the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life as it passes Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation guidelines. The mediation analysis involved the path between moral environment and quality of work life and between normative commitment and quality of work life. This is not synchronous with the result of the study. Also, in Fard and Karimi (2015), it was highlighted that ethical climate is what promotes moral value, and supported by Jung and Yoon (2016) that real value is what leads to highly favorable working conditions, which is a sign of the high quality of work life (Markovits et al., 2014). High quality of work life is a sign that employees will do a better job (Roeser et al., 2016). CONCLUSIONS Based on what the study found, it can be concluded that there is a lot of proof that the alternative hypotheses should not be thrown out in favor of the null hypotheses. Also, the public elementary school teachers who responded had a very high ethical climate, a high level of work-life quality, and a high level of commitment to standards. The research results also show a strong link between the school’s ethical climate and how good it is to work there. In the same way, there is a link between a moral environment and normative commitment that is positive. Moreover, the study’s results show that normative commitment does not affect and does not mediate the relationship between ethical climate and quality of work life. After using SPSS AMOS to do a path analysis, it was found that there is a relationship between normative commitment and the quality of work life. 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