Can body language be misread?

Absolutely, body language can be misread.  There are various reasons that body language can be misread; let us take a look at the different variables impacting someone misreading body language:

• Cultural barriers: Different cultures perceive body language differently. For example, in western culture, eye contact is considered a way to indicate that you are attentive to what they are saying.  While in other cultures in the eastern part of the world, eye culture can be perceived as threatening or disrespectful. 
• Socio-economic differences: Someone from a low socio-economic background may read how you display your body language than someone from the upper-middle class. How you perceive yourself may change from one socio-economic class to another.
• Personalization: If someone has a bad day, they may be more inclined to receive someone’s body language as negative. Their mood alters this, and they may not be aware that their emotional mind is misunderstanding body language.  This can lead to someone jumping to conclusions just based on misreading body language. 
• Age gap: Our body language changes from generation. For example, someone on the younger scale may be sitting in a slouched posture, and they may be doing so for their own comfort, but someone from an older generation may perceive this as sloppy or inattentive.
• Personality characteristics: Some people, by their personality, do not pay attention to body language, so they may be sending a message through their gestures without even realizing that their actions are sending a message.

Something to consider is that each person has their own biases that can impact how they perceive body language.  Body language is an essential part of non-verbal communication.  However, it is not across the board the same for every single person.  Although it is important to try to be aware of someone’s body language to interpret their non-verbal cues, it is not appropriate to assume that your interpretation of their body language is 100% accurate.  Be cautious in making automatic assumptions based on body language alone.  While at the same time, taking note of body language as a means to compile data and evaluate someone’s message.