I was in a tourney and one of the shorter stacks, got dealt J Q suited and someone had gone all in pre flop, there was still quite a few people left so I decided to fold but still questioning my decision.

at the time my thought was, there was still lots of poker to be played and although a good hand I should take my chances else where. Afterwards I was kind of kicking myself thinking being a "shorter" stack and blinds rising along with an ante I should have bit the bullet and took my chances. Of course never got to see the hand play out to know for sure.

My main question is, would this normally be a snap call for most people and take the chance on hitting one of the odds you would have? or reasonable to fold this?

Well JQs is definitely not the best hand with what to go all in and probably at that point when he went all in you where been beaten already so think you made right decision to fold.

If you plan on playing QJs you're going to want to be the one jamming with them. If you're calling an all in with them you're usually behind. Fold them and wait for a better spot. Sometimes you just have to stay patient even though it looks grim.

JQs is a decent hand but you're behind any Ax, Kx and pocket pairs. With no information on the opponent, like their level of aggression and their stack size, I'm pretty sure you're behind. Not to mention that there are "quite a few" players left to play and you could very well see yourself in a multiway pot where you're definitely behind. In my opinion, it's an easy fold.