Han Fei had studied the teachings of Xunzi,, who had been suspicious of human naature (people are naturally inclined to be bad). But Han Fei was even more distrustful of humanity.
And so, Han Fei felt that penal laws were needed to control people.
By comparison, Mozi had thought that the multiplicity of values was the reason for social disorder, hence the need for standards and establishing the correlations between words and reality.
Han Fei felt that disorder came from a scarcity of resources, due to an increasing population. In this way, the Legalists made more realistic assessments of people (looking at the material basis), while the Confucians and Mohists were more idealistic (because they were concerned with ideals of human nature).
However, the Legalist and Confucian conceptions of human nature are similarly connected to views about government and society (Confucians promoting natural social harmony; Legalists promoting laws to regulate society).