????雅虎（Yahoo）首席執(zhí)行官斯科特?湯普森在簡歷造假風波中黯然離職，留給我們的一個問題是：他為什么要這么做？

????不管是湯普森自己在個人簡歷上添加了從未獲得的大學專業(yè)，還是他只是在他人造假的文件上簽上了自己的名字，這個謊言斷送了他的大好前程，也讓他入圍因簡歷作假名譽掃地、最終下臺的高管名單，這名單中還包括RadioShack 前首席執(zhí)行官戴夫?埃德蒙森和圣母橄欖球隊（Notre Dame）主教練喬治?奧利瑞。

????他們?yōu)槭裁匆@么做？為什么要在一番大事業(yè)里為這樣一個小小的謊言冒這么大的風險?

????湯普森沒有策劃幾十億美元的龐氏騙局，也沒有挪用幾百萬美元的公司資金。過去幾年的某個時候，他把簡歷中實際從石山大學（Stonehill College）獲得的會計學位更改為會計和計算機學位——這個錯誤的履歷在他擔任貝寶（PayPal）總裁時就階段性地出現(xiàn)在他的在線簡介中。今年1月份加入雅虎（Yahoo）后，這份包含雙專業(yè)的官方簡歷就進入了雅虎向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的年報，首席執(zhí)行官本人必須親自證明年報內(nèi)容的真實可靠。

????“無論自己捏造，還是與他人串通造成這個錯誤，他都沒勇氣糾正，”常駐紐約的消費文化專家和品牌策略師亞當?漢夫特表示。

????雖然有在媒體上對某人進行公開精神分析之嫌，漢夫特和其他領導力、人類行為專家對此類欺騙行為給出了四大類解釋：

不安全感

????當事實過于痛苦、難堪或不足時，人們就會說謊。“顯然，他沒有進入一流的學校。因此，我認為，他有些不安全感或缺憾，”漢夫特說。“盡管如此，某人還是取得了成功，但（還是像常人一樣）有一些不安，擔心被發(fā)現(xiàn)。”

????雖然外界看來，湯普森就是成功的化身，是美國企業(yè)界一顆冉冉升起的新星，也是雅虎力爭從貝寶挖來拯救這家陷入困境的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭的人選，但他的自我認知可能截然不同。.

????“說謊源自一個根深蒂固的信念：我其實是個窩囊廢。我需要打造一個光鮮、閃亮的自我展現(xiàn)在世界面前。如果任何人一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)我真實的樣子，一切都會崩塌，”紐約精神分析學家伊麗莎白?辛格說。“捏造學歷讓他陷入了他一直竭力避免的恥辱。”

????In the wake of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson's departure amid controversy over his padded resume, the question remains: why did he do it?

????Whether Thompson embellished his bio with a college major he didn't earn, or simply signed his name to a document that someone else falsified, the lie cost him a flourishing career. It also added him to an ignominious list of powerful leaders who stepped down in disgrace over resume deceptions, including former RadioShack (RSH) CEO Dave Edmondson and Notre Dame head football coach George O'Leary.

????Why do they do it? Why do they risk so much over what, in the grand scheme of things, is a small dishonesty?

????Thompson didn't devise a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme or embezzle millions in company funds. At some point in the last few years, his actual accounting degree from Stonehill College on his bio changed into a degree in both accounting and computer science -- a false credential that appeared periodically in his online bio when he was PayPal president. After he joined Yahoo (YHOO) in January, his official bio containing the double major became part of the company's annual report filed to the SEC, a document that CEOs must personally attest is truthful.

????"Whether he was the fabricator or complicit in the perpetuation of the falsehood, he didn't have the courage to correct it," says Adam Hanft, a consumer culture expert and branding strategist based in New York.

????At the risk of psychoanalyzing someone through the media, Hanft and other experts in leadership and human behavior offer four broad categories of explanation for this kind of deception.

Insecurity.

????People lie when the truth is too painful, embarrassing, or simply perceived as inadequate. "Clearly he didn't go to a first-tier school, so I would suggest that he was operating under some feeling of insecurity or inadequacy," Hanft says. "Here's somebody who achieved despite that, but -- as people do -- harbors some anxiety and the fear of being found out."

????While Thompson might appear to the outside world to embody success -- a rising star in corporate America whom Yahoo wooed from PayPal to turn around the struggling Internet giant -- his own self-perception could be wildly different.

????"Lying results from a deep-seated belief: I am horrible on the inside. I need to make up a bright, shiny self to show the world. If anyone ever finds out who I truly am, everything will come crashing down," says New York-based psychoanalyst Elizabeth Singer. "Look how fudging his academic record has brought about the shame he sought to avoid."