A pointed finger with a closed hand is an attempt at displaying dominance.
If someone is closing their palm and pointing with their index finger, then they’re trying to display dominance – though it doesn’t always work out.
“The Palm-Closed-Finger-Pointed is a fist where the pointed finger is used like a symbolic club with which the speaker figuratively beats his listeners into submission,” the Peases write. “Subconsciously, it evokes negative feelings in others because it precedes a right overarm blow, a primal move most primates use in a physical attack.”
