It is interesting how office environments foster this kind of behavior. Maybe because it is tied to people’s way of survival through pay - this is directly tied to their basic needs, like housing, food etc. So keeping these things means you need to survive and thrive in these places and this is where all the competition, backstabbing and all sorts of other strange behaviors stem from. My workplace is a case study for this kind of stuff.
It is not true that psychopaths are trying to protect their egos, and this is not a random lie. It is an attempt to extend the psychopathic spectrum to normal people.