Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms have been increasing among nonclinical populations. We constructed the scale of OC tendencies to measure the OC symptoms observed in nonclinicals. The Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), the Padua Inventory (PI) and the Indecisiveness scale were administered to Japanese nonclinical students. Factor analysis followed by promax rotation extracted four factors; intrusion, checking, indecisiveness and cleaning, respectively. Inter-factor correlations showed that checking factor correlated with cognitive factors (intrusion and indecisiveness) stronger than cleaning factor did. The 24-items short version of the OC tendencies scale had good reliability (Cronbach's α : .72-.86; test-retest : r=.74-.82) and good criterion-related validity (with MMPI OC state : r=.21-.52). The OC tendencies scale was administered to OC disorder patients. OC disorder patients' scores of this scale was higher than those of nonclinicals. These results indicated the OC tendencies scale had the clinical validity.